All citizens must carry internal passports, noting place of residence—a practice carried over from the Soviet era. Movement into and out of the country, as well as within its borders, is difficult. Turkmenistan is dominated by a pervasive cult of personality extolling the late president Niyazov as Türkmenbaşy ("Head Turkmen"), a title he assumed in 1993. His face adorned many everyday objects, from banknotes to bottles of vodka. The logo of Turkmen national television was his profile. The two books he wrote were mandatory reading in schools, and public servants were quizzed yearly about their knowledge of their contents. They were also common in shops and homes. Many institutions were named after Niyazov's mother. All watches and clocks made had to bear his portrait printed on the dial-face. A giant 15-meter (50ft) tall gold-plated statue of Niyazov stood on a rotating pedestal in Ashgabat, so it would always face the sun and shine light onto the city.
A slogan popular in Turkmen propaganda was "Halk! Watan! Türkmenbaşy!" ("People! Motherland! Head of Turkmen!"). Niyazov renamed the days of the week after members of his family and wrote the new Turkmen national anthem/oath himself.
Foreign companies seeking to exploit Turkmenistan's vast natural gas resources cooperated with Niyazov since he also controlled access to the natural resources. His book, Ruhnama (or Rukhnama, 2001 and 2004), which was revered in Turkmenistan almost like a holy text, has been translated into 41 languages[6]as of 2008[update] and distributed for free among major international libraries.[7] Niyazov once proclaimed that anyone who reads this book three times will "become more intelligent, will recognise the divine being and will go straight to heaven".[8]
After Niyazov's death, Deputy Prime Minister Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow became acting president, and was elected president in his own right on 11 February 2007 in elections condemned by international observers as fraudulent. On 20 March, in a decision of significant symbolic weight in the ongoing rejection of Niyazov's personality cult, he abolished the power of the president to rename any landmarks, institutions, or cities.
After the death of Saparmurat Niyazov Turkmenistan's leadership made tentative moves to open up the country. Berdimuhamedow repealed some of Niyazov's most idiosyncratic policies, including banning opera and the circus for being "insufficiently Turkmen". In education, his government increased basic education from 9 years to 10 years, and restored higher education from two years to five. He has also increased contacts with the West, which is eager for access to the country's natural gas riches - but fears were mounting that the government would revert to Niyazov's draconian style of rule.
The constitution provides for freedom of the press, but the government does not practice it. The government effectively controls all media outlets. Only two newspapers, Adalat[tk] and Galkynyş[tk], both created by presidential decree, and two private internet news portals, Infoabad and Arzuw, are nominally independent. Cable television, which existed in the late 1980s, was shut down. Access to foreign media is impeded by internet blockage of roughly one third of the world's IP addresses and a ban on use of virtual private networks.[9]
Turkmen authorities restrict the activities of all but the officially recognized Russian Orthodox and Sunni Islam faiths. Religious congregations must register with the government, and individual parishes must have at least 500 members to register. Severe measures deal with religious sects that have not been able to establish official ties of state recognition, especially Baptists, Pentecostals, Seventh-day Adventists, Hare Krishna, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Baháʼís. Practitioners of these sects have allegedly been harassed, imprisoned, and/or tortured, according to some[which?] foreign human-rights advocacy groups.
Corruption continues to be pervasive. Power is concentrated in the presidency; the judiciary is wholly subservient to the régime, with all judges appointed for five-year terms by the president without legislative review. Little has been done to prosecute corrupt officials. With regard to the legal profession, while law practice may be conducted in Turkmenistan in assorted ways (collegium of lawyers, lawyers' association, private practice, etc.),[10] there is no clear indication as to how certain demographic groups, such as women, have fared in the field.
In September 2008, the People's Council unanimously passed a resolution adopting a new constitution. The latter resulted in the abolition of the council and a significant increase in the size of Parliament in December 2008. The constitution also enables the formation of multiple political parties. President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow has stated that "The new constitution corresponds to all international and democratic norms".[12][13]
National Leader appointed 2023
As of 21 January 2023, President Serdar Berdimuhamedow appointed his father and predecessor, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, chairperson of the reformed People's Council of Turkmenistan with the title "National Leader of the Turkmen People" (Turkmen: türkmen halkynyň Milli Lideri).[1][2][14][15] State media referred to the People's Council as the "supreme organ of government authority".[1] Outside observers consider that the presidency has been stripped of all real authority so that it can be transferred to the National Leader, who is now the genuine chief executive of government. One commentator stated that this makes Turkmenistan an "absolute monarchy."[3][16][17][18]
Freedom of association
Formally, according to the constitution, citizens of Turkmenistan have the right to set up political parties and other public associations, acting within the framework of the constitution and the laws, and public associations and groups of citizens have the right to nominate their candidates in accordance with the election law.[citation needed]
Under the 1992 constitution, the president is elected by popular vote for a five-year term. Niyazov added the post of chairman of the Supreme Soviet in January 1990, and was elected as the country's first president that October. He was the only candidate in Turkmenistan's first presidential elections in 1992. A 1994 plebiscite extended his term to 2002, and Parliament extended his term indefinitely in 1999.
After Niyazov's death, Deputy Prime Minister for Science and Health Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow took over, despite the fact that Öwezgeldi Ataýew, the Chairman of the Parliament of Turkmenistan, would be the next in line in the order of succession (allegedly because the prosecutor-general had initiated investigations against Ataýew). The president appoints the deputy chairmen of the cabinet of ministers.
As of January 2023, Turkmenistan's Parliament ("Assembly", Turkmen: Mejlis) is unicameral, with a 125-seat single chamber. The Assembly is popularly elected.
History
The 1992 constitution established two parliamentary bodies, a unicameral People's Council or Halk Maslahaty (supreme legislative body of up to 2,500 delegates, some of whom were elected by popular vote and some of whom were appointed; met at least yearly) and a unicameral Assembly or Mejlis (originally 50 seats, eventually expanded to 125, whose members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms).
In late 2003 legislation was passed reducing the powers of the Mejlis and making the Halk Maslahaty the supreme legislative organ. The Halk Maslahaty could at that point legally dissolve the Mejlis, and the president was now able to participate in the Mejlis as its supreme leader. The Mejlis could no longer adopt or amend the constitution, or announce referendums or its elections. Since President Saparmurat Niyazov was both the "Chairman for Life" of the Halk Maslahaty and the supreme leader of the Mejlis, the 2003 law had the effect of making him the sole authority of both the executive and legislative branches of government.[19]
Following Niyazov's death, in 2008, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow introduced a new constitution under which the Halk Maslahaty was reformed into an "Elders Council" with no legislative authority, and nominal legislative authority reverted to a unicameral Mejlis.[20]
In October 2017, President Berdimuhamedow reorganized the Council of Elders into a new People's Council.[21] In September 2020 the Turkmenistan Parliament adopted a constitutional amendment creating an upper chamber and thus making the Parliament bicameral.[22] The People's Council became the upper chamber. Of its 56 members, 48 are indirectly elected and 8 are appointed by the president. Together with the previous unicameral parliamentary body, the 125-seat Mejlis, as the lower chamber, the Parliament is now called the National Council (Turkmen: Milli Geňeş).
Election to the upper chamber was held 28 March 2021.[23][24] Elections to the Mejlis were last held 25 March 2018.[25][26]
In January 2023 both chambers of parliament proposed to abolish the Halk Maslahaty as a legislative organ, to reform it as an independent representative body, and to place all legislative authority in a unicameral Assembly (Mejlis).[27][28][29][30] This proposal was adopted in a joint session of the National Council on 21 January 2023.[1][2]
De facto authority
Outside observers consider the Turkmen legislature to be a rubber stamp parliament.[25][26][31] The Turkmen legislature is described as under the "full control" of the president.[32]
Turkmenistan was until recently a one-party state wherein only the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan (Türkmenistanyň Demokratik partiýasynyň) was legally allowed to contest elections. Other parties are now formally allowed to exist following the adoption of the new Constitution.[33]
There have been political parties and opposition groups in the past—a group named Agzybirlik (Unity) was banned in January 1990. Its members formed the Party for Democratic Development which was itself banned in 1991. This led a coalition for democratic reform named Gengesh (Conference).
The latest opposition party, the Republican Party of Turkmenistan (Türkmenistanyň Respublikan partiýasynyň), operates in exile. Since all opposition was banned within Turkmenistan, so it has been forced to form and operate from abroad.
Below is the list of parliamentary parties in Turkmenistan:
Foreign policy of Turkmenistan is based on the status of permanent positive neutrality recognized by the UN General Assembly Resolution on Permanent Neutrality of Turkmenistan on 12 December 1995.[35] Articles on Turkmenistan's foreign policy as a neutral state:
The World Recognized Turkmenistan's Neutrality 9 Years Ago[38]
Domestic policy
Restrictions on communication
Despite the launch of Turkmenistan's first communication satellite—TürkmenÄlem 52°E / MonacoSAT—in April 2015, the Turkmen government banned all satellite dishes in Turkmenistan the same month. The statement issued by the government indicated that all existing satellite dishes would have to be removed or destroyed—despite the communications receiving antennas having been legally installed since 1995—in an effort by the government to fully block access of the population to many "hundreds of independent international media outlets" which are currently accessible in the country only through satellite dishes, including all leading international news channels in different languages. The main target of this campaign is Radio Azatlyk, the Turkmen-language service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.[39]
Internet access is filtered and websites to which the government objects are blocked. Blocked websites include opposition news media, YouTube, many social media including Facebook, and encrypted communications applications. Use of virtual private networks to circumvent censorship is prohibited.[40][41][42]
Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ashgabat is the capital and largest city. It is one of the six independent Turkic states. With a population over 7 million, Turkmenistan is the 35th most-populous country in Asia and has the lowest population of the Central Asian republics while being one of the most sparsely populated nations on the Asian continent.
Turkmenistan elects on national level a head of state — the president — and a legislature. The elections in Turkmenistan since its split from the Soviet Union have been widely criticized for being neither free nor fair and attempting to give an appearance of legitimacy to what is in reality a dictatorship. The parties of Turkmenistan are the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan, the Agrarian Party of Turkmenistan, and the Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. The president has a seven-year term, while the legislature has a five-year term.
The president of Turkmenistan, officially the president and chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan, is the head of state and head of government of Turkmenistan. The president is also the supreme commander in chief of the Armed Forces of Turkmenistan and heads the State Security Council.
The People's Council of Turkmenistan is Turkmenistan's independent "representative body" exerting supreme constitutional authority. It includes in its membership, but is not considered part of, the legislature. Among other things, it is empowered to amend the constitution. Its chairperson is appointed by the president and is designated the "National Leader". State media referred to the People's Council as the "supreme representative organ of people's power", a title similar to the "supreme organ of state power" of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. From 2018 to 2023 it was the upper chamber of Turkmenistan's Parliament, the "National Council".
The Assembly is the unicameral legislature of Turkmenistan. Between March 2021 and 21 January 2023, it was the lower house of the National Council of Turkmenistan. It consists of 125 members, who are elected for five-year terms in single-seat constituencies.
Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow is a Turkmen politician and former dentist who is currently the Chairman of the People's Council of Turkmenistan. He previously served as the 2nd President of Turkmenistan from 2006 to 2022, when he entered into a power-sharing arrangement with his son, Serdar, the current president.
Presidential elections were held in Turkmenistan on 11 February 2007, following the death of president-for-life Saparmurat Niyazov on 21 December 2006.
The State Security Council of Turkmenistan is an important decision-making body in the field of the defence of Turkmenistan. It is the highest decision-making body in the armed forces next to the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff, with its members directly advising the President of Turkmenistan on matters of national security.
Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov, known as Türkmenbaşy, was a Turkmen politician who led Turkmenistan from 1985 until his death in 2006. He was the first secretary of the Communist Party of Turkmenistan from 1985 until 1991 and supported the 1991 Soviet coup attempt. He continued to rule Turkmenistan as president for 15 years after independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Kasymguly Gulmyradovych Babayev is a Turkmen political figure and economist.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs is the interior ministry or national police force of Turkmenistan. The ministry directly controls the Turkmen police force, consisting of about 25,000 personnel and works with the Ministry for National Security on matters of law enforcement and national defense. The primary tasks of the police force include maintaining law and public security, crime prevention and investigation, passport controlroad and fire safety, and international cooperation in law enforcement. The ministry works with INTERPOL. The current minister is Muhammet Hydyrow. The ministry was founded on February 19, 1998, by decree of President Saparmurat Niyazov “On the formation of the police of Turkmenistan”.
The title Hero of Turkmenistan is a state award of Turkmenistan. It was first awarded in 1992 and was awarded for service to the implementation of domestic and foreign policy.
Serdar Gurbangulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow is a Turkmen politician serving as the third and current president of Turkmenistan since 19 March 2022. Berdimuhamedow had previously served in several other positions within the government of his father, Gurbanguly, the long-standing authoritarian ruler of Turkmenistan. The father and son entered into a power-sharing arrangement in 2022 whereby they jointly rule an authoritarian system of government in Turkmenistan.
People's Council elections were held in Turkmenistan on 28 March 2021 to elect 48 of the 56 members of the People's Council or Halk Maslahaty. Another eight were appointed by the president on 14 April 2021.
Shamuhammet Durdylyyev is a Turkmen politician. He was the first mayor of the city of Arkadag. He previously served as deputy chairman of the Turkmenistan government for construction and industry and as mayor of Ashgabat, Turkmenistan's capital city. He is currently on the board of directors of the consortium of construction companies responsible for building the "Ashgabat City" residential development.
The National Council of Turkmenistan was Turkmenistan's bicameral national legislative body or parliament from March 2021 until January 2023. The upper chamber was the People's Council and the lower chamber was the Assembly. The National Council was created in March 2021 following election of members to the upper chamber, which in turn followed a constitutional amendment in late 2020.
Early presidential elections were held in Turkmenistan on 12 March 2022. The elections were called after incumbent president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow announced his intention to resign.
Parliamentary elections were held in Turkmenistan on 26 March 2023 to elect the 125 members of the Assembly. The elections took place after the introduction of a separate constitutional authority. The Assembly is since January 2023 the unicameral legislature of Turkmenistan. Between March 2021 and 21 January 2023 it was the lower house of the National Council of Turkmenistan.
Arkadag is a city in southern Turkmenistan. It became the regional capital of Ahal Province effective 20 December 2022. It is a largely greenfield development started in 2019 with an initial budget of $1.5 billion. The city was named in honor of former President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, who is officially entitled Arkadag. Uniquely among Turkmen cities, Arkadag is by law designated a "city of state importance".
↑ Moring, Kirsikka (29 February 2008). "The deadly watchful eye of Turkmenistan's holy book". Helsingin Sanomat (INternational Edition - Foreigned.). Helsinki. Archived from the original on 9 August 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2014. Companies are required to collaborate in the personality cult. This is why Ruhnama, "The Book of Souls" written by the now dead dictator Sarparmurat Nijazov, has to be translated into the language of the company's country of origin as a way of closing a deal. [...] The book praising the dictator has been translated into 41 different languages.
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