Turkmenistan: Taking megalomania to new heights
Printed matter with images of country’s rulers cannot be crumpled.

The cult of personality built by Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, Turkmenistan’s paramount leader, is already well documented. He has unveiled golden monuments to himself in the capital Ashgabat, made underlings kow-tow before him, and has pleasured in posting videos of his various exploits for all to see.
And since the beginning of the year, he has effectively made it a crime to deface or otherwise disrespect either his image or his son’s featured in printed matter published in Turkmenistan.
Given that Turkmenistan has one of the most tightly state-controlled media environments in the world, Turkmen periodicals are not known for their readability. But printed matter does tend to contain a plethora of pictures extolling the virtues of Berdymukhamedov and his son, Serdar, the country’s nominal president.
Government employees and students are often required to subscribe to state-controlled newspapers and periodicals. Under the new directive, which RFE/RL reports went into effect earlier in January, anyone using a newspaper for any purpose other than reading is subject to punishment.
This has created a quandary for many Turkmen. According to the RFE/RL report, newspapers and other Turkmen-published periodicals are rarely read, but still have a wide range of uses. “More often they [Turkmen citizens] find practical uses: they are used for lining shoes in rainy weather or in everyday life,” the report stated. “Considering the low income level of the population, newspapers are also used as toilet paper.”
Authorities are reportedly considering adding QR codes to every newspaper page to give the security services the ability to track down potential offenders.
“We are afraid to let children touch newspapers at home. If a child accidentally tears or throws away a photo of the president, it could cost us our job,” the RFE/RL report quoted a Turkmen bureaucrat as saying, who naturally requested anonymity to avoid retribution.
While the Berdymukhamedovs create more kindling for what inevitably someday will feed a bonfire of their vanities, Turkmen citizens are suffering. For example, a World Bank report published January 27 shows Turkmenistan presently is the only former Soviet country with a double-digit rate of Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity.
Sign up for Eurasianet's free weekly newsletter. Support Eurasianet: Help keep our journalism open to all, and influenced by none.