Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan President's Re-Election 'Typical Faux Democracy'

AP | ALEXANDER VERSHININ | Posted 04.14.2012

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) — Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov won a new five-year term by capturing 97 percent of the vote, elec...

Man Goes To Jail For Dog In Turkmenistan

The Huffington Post | Tara Kelly | Posted 12.01.2011

Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has long despised stray animals roaming the streets of Ashbagat. But the president's hatred of...

PHOTOS: Abandon All Hope: Visiting 10 Entrances To Hell

Andrew Burmon | Posted 12.21.2011

Grandma may be breathless over her trip to the Holy Land and your cousin may want to go snowboarding at Heavenly, but most people receive more persona...

Border Tensions Sit Uneasy With Enviromental Challenges

Leyla Aliyeva | Posted 11.25.2011

Leyla Aliyeva

The international community - political as well as scientific - needs to understand that without true international dialogue, the scope for environmental action is dramatically limited. But with that dialogue comes unlimited opportunity that goes far beyond the future of one species.

10 Fascinating Forbidding Places

ShermansTravel | Posted 11.29.2011

ShermansTravel

The same impulse that drew 16th-century explorers into uncharted oceans may compel today's intrepid travelers to ignore State Department travel warnings.

As Central Asia Fragments, Could English Be the Answer?

Cleo Paskal | Posted 11.15.2011

Cleo Paskal

On Christmas Day, 1991, five new countries were born. This year Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan turn 20. A lot has changed.

Russia Slams EU Plans To Support Caspian Pipeline

AP | By PETER LEONARD | Posted 11.13.2011

MOSCOW -- Russia lashed out Tuesday at an offer by the European Union to broker talks between energy-rich former Soviet nations Azerbaijan and Turkmen...

To The Gates OF Hell And Back In Turkmenistan

Grif Peterson | Posted 10.19.2011

Grif Peterson

For nearly half a century, the Darvaza Gas Crater has been burning day and night.

The Mongol Rally: Entering Turkmenistan for Dummies

Grif Peterson | Posted 10.13.2011

Grif Peterson

Before disembarking, the first mate announced that the doctor would like to inspect all the Americans. There were 8 of us, too many for the doctor to be bothered with.

What of Persian and the Lingua Franca of the New Century?

Sam Sasan Shoamanesh | Posted 09.06.2011

Sam Sasan Shoamanesh

What of the sway of Persian, or for that matter, any other language in today's world? It is language capable of 'selling' to an increasingly aware world-population that will be triumphant in the 21st century.

From Totalitarianism to Turbines: The Unending Struggle for Power in Central Asia

Derek Henry Flood | Posted 06.29.2011

Derek Henry Flood

The deadly June crisis in southern Kyrgyzstan highlights the extreme fragility in Central Asia's inherently flawed post-independence nation-state structures. However, the five republics are being simultaneously courted by the U.S. military.

We're Now Number 77 in Income Inequality (Tied With Turkmenistan)

Gar Alperovitz | Posted 05.25.2011

Gar Alperovitz

The top one percent of American taxpayers increased their share of the nation's total pre-tax adjusted gross income from 10 percent in 1980 to 23.5 percent in 2007. These are not routine numbers.

UN: Israel's Rescue/Relief Hospital in Haiti is an Illegal Outpost

Paul Korda | Posted 05.25.2011

Paul Korda

Editor's Note: The following post is satire. Israel has erected a state-of-the art field hospital in Haiti hours after a devastating earthquake shook...

China Taps Central Asian Gas

Radio Free Asia | Radio Free Asia | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Turkmenistan, Home News

China presses into Central Asia with the opening of its first import gas pipeline from Turkmenistan....

The Untapped Energy Riches of Uzbekistan

Minyanville | Minyanville | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Turkmenistan, Home News

Editor's Note: This article was written by energy journalist and government energy adviser John C.K. Daly of OilPrice.com which offers free informati...

Tank Warfare: Alaska PR Initiative Targets Polar Bears

Martin Luz | Posted 05.25.2011

Martin Luz

The latest entrant in the "sponsored-ideas" derby is the state of Alaska, which announced a $1.5 million, 2-year program to kill polar bears... er... sorry, the stated goal of RFP No. 505 is to:

Jumpin' Jack Verdi, It's a Gas, Gas, Gas: Iran and the Pipelineistan Opera

Pepe Escobar | Posted 05.25.2011

Pepe Escobar

Whatever Washington thinks, the Europeans know that energy independence from Russia is, in reality, inconceivable. Bottom line when it comes to natural gas: Europe needs everything.

The Scandal of International Religious Persecution

Doug Bandow | Posted 05.25.2011

Doug Bandow

There is a good argument for treating religious liberty as the first freedom. If a government is unwilling to protect basic freedom when it comes to religious faith, then it is unlikely to tolerate political free-thinking either.

Turkmen President Opens Cancer Clinic By Performing Its First Operation

Times Online | Posted 05.25.2011

The President of Turkmenistan took a hands-on approach as he opened a cancer clinic in the capital Ashgabat - he performed the first operation himself...

Reaching Out to Turkmenistan

Farid Tuhbatullin | Posted 05.25.2011

Farid Tuhbatullin

Turkmenistan remains one of the most repressive countries in the world. It needs to fully break with the repressive practices of the Niazov era, and its international partners need to say so.

EU Seeking Energy Independence From Russia

Dygest.net | Dygest.net | Posted 05.25.2011

The European Union and Turkey gave fresh political impetus on Friday to the ambitious Nabucco pipeline project, although key Central Asian gas supplie...

Weekly Foreign Affairs Roundup

Christopher Herbert and Victoria Kataoka | Posted 05.25.2011

Christopher Herbert and Victoria Kataoka

The Week's Top Stories in Foreign Affairs: American Economic Leadership Recognized Facts: US President Barack Obama made his first address to Americ...

Rumors Of The Next Cold War

Judah Freed | Posted 05.25.2011

Judah Freed

No matter how subtly the conquest happens, Russian control of Georgia would amount to an historic shift in the balance of power -- especially as long as the world economy is fueled by oil.