New Eastern Europe - November-December 2017

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overlooked is Turkmenistan, a desert republic of 5.6 million people on the eastern

shore of the Caspian Sea. In a 2016 list of the world’s most authoritarian socie-

ties, compiled by The Telegraph and based on data collected by Freedom House,

Turkmenistan was ranked the worst place (North Korea came in third, behind

Somalia and Syria).

Like others on the list, Turkmenistan is isolationist and strives for self-suffi-

ciency, or at least the appearance of it. This approach is nicely summed up in the

government’s “policy of neutrality”, established following independence in 1991,

which in official propaganda is spoken of almost in spiritual tones. On the plus

side, Turkmenistan’s neutrality translates to a general disinclination to interfere in

the internal affairs of its neighbours. On the negative side, it also translates into a

careful avoidance of international attention, especially anything critical.

Sitting atop the world’s fifth-largest proven gas reserves, the country is believed

to be capable of enormous economic growth. According to some estimates, in 2016

alone its gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 6.2 per cent. Yet, Turkmenistan

is notorious for spending its wealth on grandiose and impractical construction

projects. Highlights include one of the world’s largest telecommunications relay

stations (in a country where internet penetration is said to be only 15 per cent), an

Opinion & Analysis A looming humanitarian crisis in the land Orwell forgot, Christopher Schwartz

In Turkmenistan, grandiosity – and the illicit profits it brings – takes priority

over everything else, even the need of the citizens to eat.

Photo: Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska