Turkmenistan

The present-day territory of Turkmenistan has a long history that dates back to the times of emergence of civilizations. The land was ruled in ancient times by Persian empires, and was conquered by Alexander the Great, Mongols, Turkic army, and finally by Russian empire. City of Merv, formerly Achaemenid Satrapy of Margiana, and later Alexandria, was a major oasis-city in Central Asia, located on the historic Silk Road near today’s Mary in Turkmenistan. Annexed by Russian empire in the late 1800s, Turkmenistan fought fiercely against Bolshevik movement in Central Asia. Turkmenistan became part of the USSR in 1924 and became independent in 1991.

Saparmurat Niyazov, the first president of Turkmenistan, known as “the president for life” died in 2006, and Turkmenistan held its first presidential elections in February 2007. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, who is still in power,became a new president in theelections widely regarded as "a democratic sham". Like his predecessor, he constructed a cult of personality and even built himself his own gold monument in a form of Bronze Horseman that resembles a monument of Peter the Great in St. Petersburg.

Turkmenistan’s human rights’ record remains atrocious. The country is extremely repressive and is closed to independent scrutiny. The government imposes restrictions on media and religious freedoms and controls access to information.  Authorities continue to impose informal and arbitrary travel bans on various groups, including students leaving for study abroad, activists, and relatives of exiled dissidents. Local activists report the fiercest government pressure against them. Websites tied to the government published smear articles against several human rights defenders in the country and in exile.

Domestic violence against women and girls remains a serious problem. The poor implementation of 2003 domestic violence law results in failure by government agencies to offer adequate protection to  victims of domestic violence and punish abusers.The absence of services and the authorities’ inaction or hostility toward victims obstruct survivors’ access to protection and justice. Police do not systematically enforce protection orders and few domestic violence complaints reach the courts. Pressure to keep families together, stigma, economic dependence, and fear of reprisals by abusers prevent some women from seeking assistance.

Relationships between man and sex between male persons in Turkmenistan is punishable by imprisonment. Article 135 of the Criminal Code of Turkmenistan "Sodomy" provides for punishment of imprisonment for a term of up to two years for "sexual intercourse between a man with a man", and from 5 to 10 years in a repeated case. Homophobia is widespread, and homosexuals hide their sexual orientation to avoid discrimination in Turkmenistan. Criminalization and social prejudice create widespread homophobia, and medical institutions and judicial authorities often regard homosexuality as a disease. In the midst of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) by the United Nations Human Rights Council, Turkmenistan kept to decriminalizing sexual relations between consenting adults of the same sex

The economy of Turkmenistan is dependent on hydrocarbon/natural gas reserves, which are not fully exploited. In recent years, Turkmenistan is moving to expand its exploitation of natural resources and attempts to diversify its gas export routes beyond Russia's pipeline network. In 2010, new gas export pipelines delivering the Turkmen gas to China and Iran were built. The new pipelines curbed the Russian control over Turkmen gas exports.

Up to 2019 all citiznens of Turkmenistan had a right to free electricity, gas and water. In the same time COVID-19 crizes deepened economic crises, prices on basics good continued growing and most of the population of the country found themselves on the edge of a hungry state.  Government of Turkmenistan denied the pandemic, did not take any protective measures and refused to admit COVID-19 cases in the country.