Turkmenistan Watch:
The President of Turkmenistan’s uncharacteristically short 25 year rule looks to be coming to an end with snap elections underway now. But never fear, there is another Berdymukhamedov waiting in the wings. Among the nine candidates, and utterly certain to win, is Gurbanguly’s son Serdar, age 40.
The Berdymukhamedov is dead, long live the Berdymukhamedov.
RFERL has a collection of sixteen color photos taken in Turkmenistan by a Russian photographer named Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky between 1906 and 1911. Above is a screen shot of one of them.
The wait is over. There will be no greater summer blockbuster than the blistering new release by former dentist and Arkadag (The Protector) Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.
Who, you ask? Why, the president of Turkmenistan, of course. In merely his 53rd book, The Spiritual World of the Turkmen People, the Protector (pondering the depth of the human soul, above) shares his “deep thoughts on the historical experience of the Turkmen people.”
Darn it, it’s not on Amazon yet. In the meantime you may wish to top up on some of the Arkadag’s considerable accomplishments.
Turkmenistan consistently outperforms the world in weirdness, as I’ve kept occasional track of here on CS&W. Now, according to Reporters Sans Frontières,
“people wearing face masks or talking about the coronavirus on the street, at bus stops or in lines outside shops are liable to be arrested by plainclothes police….”
Gee, what a soulful fellow Berdymukhamedov is.
Eurasianet reports that the government of Turkmenistan is inaugurating a new Amul-Khazar road race “that the government hopes will put the country on the international motor sports map.”
It quotes RFE/RL’s Turkmen service: “each of the country’s five regions, or viloyats, is being required to dispatch 7,000 spectators to convey the impression of a popular event.”
“‘According to the instructions, they should stand along the route of the rally and in their capacity as spectators, make a noise,” a correspondent on the ground told Radio Azatlyk.’
This is Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow. He is the President of Turkmenistan. He can play basketball, soccer, volleyball and ping pong.
Common Sense and Whiskey 