Turkmenistan: the North Korea of Central Asia

The history of Turkmenistan and the post-Soviet nations of Central Asia is a mosaic of mysterious, fascinating, and often unknown events to us Westerners. In this documentary, we will focus on Turkmenistan, one of the world’s strangest, most bizarre, and insane dictatorships, whose regime began in 1991 with the rise to power of president Saparmurat Niyazov (and continued today with successor Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow). Why is Turkmenistan considered a despotic isolationist tyranny, forgotten and extravagant? Is it based only on Turkmen gas and oil and international relations with Asian great powers such as Russia and China? Let’s discover together the roots and quirks of the personality cult of one of the most enigmatic leaders. Sources: 1) Abbott (2016), Turkmenistan History: Origins and Early history, Society, Social Structure, the Economy, Government and Politics. 2) Edgar (2004), Tribal Nation: The Making of Soviet Turkmenistan. 3) Gleason (2018), The Central Asian States: Discovering Independence. 4) Hiro (2009), Inside Central Asia: A Political and Cultural History of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz stan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Iran. 5) Rasizade (2003), Turkmenbashi and his Turkmenistan. 6) Tranum (2010), Daily Life in Turkmenbashy’s Golden Age. 7) Zabortseva (2018), Niyazov’s Ideology and its Symbolism: The Cult of the Leader, Nationalism and its Suppression of Critical Thinking