Yearbook 2010
Turkmenistan. According to
COUNTRYAAH, the gloss of deceased dictator Saparmurat
Nijazov fell further during the year. Turkmenbasji the
Great, as he was called, had his gold statue dismantled. His
successor, President Gurbanguli Berdimuchammedov, ordered
the 15-meter-high rotating gold statue to be removed from
the 75-meter plinth in the capital city of Ashgabad.
But Berdimuchammedov had at the same time created a cult
of personality around himself and gathered power in his own
hands. When local elections were held at the end of the
year, some polling stations were adorned with portraits of
the single president.
Turkmenistan, which has the world's fourth-largest gas
reserves, expanded its oil and gas exports during the year
to reduce dependence on the Russian market. In January, a
new gas pipeline was opened from Turkmenistan to Iran, which
was expected to more than double gas deliveries to Iran. In
August, a number of foreign oil companies were offered
concessions for oil extraction in the Caspian Sea, three US
and one from Dubai. China's state energy company CNPC has
also been awarded a contract on the South Ioiotan field, and
Turkmenistan hopes for increased economic cooperation with
China.
In October, the head of the state gas company Turkmengaz
was dismissed, the largest of its kind in Central Asia. The
dismissed was accused of serious failure.
In 2012, the Electoral Act was amended, so that in 2013
for the first time in the country's history elections were
held for parliament with the participation of several
parties. The election was held in December 2013. The ruling
TDP got 47 of the parliament's 125 seats, while the Party
for Industrial and Business People got 14. The country's LO
got 33 seats, the Women's Organization got 16 and the Youth
Organization 8. Finally, civic groups got the remaining 7
seats. OSCE and Amnesty International criticized the
election for not giving way to the country's opposition.
In April 2015, the country launched its first TV
satellite, TurkmenSat 1. That same month, the regime banned
all private satellite antennas. It happened as part of the
establishment of a total news monopoly.
In September 2016, a new constitution was adopted that
extended the presidential term from 6 to 7 years and removed
an age restriction on eligibility.
Turkmenistan is considered by human rights organizations
to be one of the world's most repressive states. In 2016,
journalists without the border placed the country at the
bottom of the list of countries in terms of freedom of the
press, and on the Press Freedom Index the country was in
third place. However, the EU has good relations with the
country. Turkmenistan must supply gas to the EU to reduce
its dependence on Russian gas. Likewise, the United States
is particularly subdued in its criticism of the
dictatorship.
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