Turkmenistan | July 15, 2021
You’re offline. This is a read only version of the page.
As reported by Radio Free Europe (RFE/RL) on 10 August 2023, hundreds of protesters (mostly women) staged the largest demonstration to date over the breakdown of Turkmenistan's subsidized food system. In response, the mayor of Turkmenbashi promised fresh supplies of subsidized food in the coming weeks. The demonstration was just one of a number of recent events pointing to the rising levels of desperation in one of the world's most isolated and repressive states.
World Watch Research analyst Rolf Zeegers comments: “The regime in Turkmenistan is extremely authoritarian and the country has often been compared with North Korea. The Turkmen elite remain more or less unaffected by the country’s problems. Protests are very rare in the country because everyone is wary of the possible severe consequences. What happened on 7 August is therefore remarkable: People have become so desperate that they are prepared to take the risk of confronting the regime. It is the normal citizens (including the tiny number of Christian converts) who are living under a burden of oppression which is unlikely to be lifted in the short-term.”
We use cookies and other technologies on our website. Some of them are essential, while others help us to improve this website and your experience. We use them, among other things, to offer you an option for secure donations and anonymously evaluate access to our website. It also allows us to share our own YouTube videos on the website. Depending on the function, the data is passed on to third parties and processed by them. More information on The use of your data can be found in our Privacy Policy. You can revoke or adjust your choice at any time under Cookie Settings.