Why Turkmenistan is the most closed country in the world. Iron Curtain for Turkmens: why the people of Turkmenistan were forbidden to leave the country

A former Soviet republic, Turkmenistan has long been one of the world's most closed states. Now in a country rich in gas and oil, there is the worst economic crisis in the last 27 years. And if earlier many residents tried to go abroad to work, now the Turkmen authorities have banned all citizens under 40 from leaving the country.

strict censorship and authoritarian regime- the most closed country Central Asia can outdo North Korea in many ways. Turkmen leader and former dentist Gurbanguly Myalikkulievich Berdymukhammedov (pictured above) is famous for his unusual decrees. So, in Turkmenistan it was forbidden to paint cars in all colors except white, and then there was a ban on women driving. In addition, Turkmen women are forbidden to dye their hair in light shades and wear tight-fitting clothes.

And by 2017, the country's government had to cancel all social benefits for the population: the utopian project of the "golden age", in which millions of citizens of the republic practically lived, who did not pay utility bills and received free gasoline.

The “epoch of power and happiness” declared in the country turned into an economic crisis with queues at grocery stores and the flourishing of an underground currency market. AT last years in Turkmenistan, there is a shortage of food and a sharp increase in fuel prices. In March 2017, government sources reported that the unemployment rate in the republic had almost reached 60 percent.

Turkmen border guards

Now, the authorities of Turkmenistan have made most of the population restricted to leave the country: it is forbidden for all citizens under the age of 40 to leave the country. Thus, the state is fighting for the preservation of workers in the regions.

Ashgabat International Airport

No official ban has been announced. But according to Radio Azatlyk (the local service of Radio Liberty), the country's migration services refuse to extradite Required documents, explaining this by some kind of “order from above” on a travel ban for persons under 40 years old. And this despite the fact that in recent years migration has become massive: people leave to work (mainly to Turkey) and after a few years take their families with them.

According to the Turkish Migration Service, in 2016-2017 alone, about 25,000 Turkmen migrants were officially registered in this country. According to some reports, at least 200,000 Turkmen citizens lived in Turkey, most of them illegally.

The mass exodus of people affects not only the labor market, but also the security of the country. At the same time, Turkmenistan has a long and poorly guarded border with Afghanistan and is the first on the path of Afghan drug trafficking. The outflow of the population has led to the fact that over the past two years, high school students have been drafted into the army, preventing them from graduating from the 11th grade.

The Turkmen authorities hide data on the country's population: the last census was conducted here in 2012, but its results have not been published. According to various resources, about 6 million people now live in Turkmenistan, while only a third of the population are people over 40.

Turkmenistan is so afraid of allowing contact between local residents and visitors, who built a "tourist paddock" for foreigners in Avaza for several billion dollars.

AT recent times There is a lot of talk in Turkmenistan about the development of the tourism industry. They say that Turkmenistan with its ancient history and culture, original customs and traditions opens up to the world with bright facets of goodness, peace and cordiality. The President promises to build a world-class resort on the Caspian coast. Even in Ashgabat they dug up a river to keep up, as was stated, with Vienna, Paris and Budapest.

Anyone who knows the situation a little better than nothing has a suspicion that the thoughts and speeches of Turkmen officials are somewhat out of touch with reality. But the reality is that guests are not expected here.

No one can come to Turkmenistan without a visa, you won’t get a visa at the border, and you haven’t heard about e-visas here. There are only two such countries in the world: Turkmenistan and Syria. There is also Afghanistan, but with one significant difference - if you or your parents were born in Afghanistan, you do not need an entry visa there. It seems that a trifle, but speaks of the attitude towards people. In Turkmenistan, on the contrary, it is believed that a Turkmen with a foreign passport is ideologically more dangerous than any "real" foreigner.

In short, whether you are at least Russians, at least Chinese, at least "Negroes advanced years”, go to the nearest consulate of Turkmenistan, and there they will explain to you how the senseless and merciless Turkmen tourism begins - with an “invitation”.

Invitation

"Invitation" is a document that is issued for every foreigner who wants to come to Turkmenistan. Someone must “invite” every foreigner and in the future bear full responsibility for him, up to criminal responsibility (as happened more than once). This applies equally to hired workers, and to tourists, and to those wishing to visit relatives living in Turkmenistan.

There is even a regulation called “Obligations of legal entities and individuals who invited foreign citizens or stateless persons to Turkmenistan”, which, among other things, reads:

“Inviting foreign citizens or stateless persons, legal and individuals and host organizations are obliged to explain to them in a timely manner their rights and obligations, provided by law Turkmenistan, ensure their compliance with the legislation of Turkmenistan, as well as take measures for their timely registration and execution of documents for stay in Turkmenistan ... "

Foreigners who do not have relatives or acquaintances in Turkmenistan, but who wish to visit there, are invited to use the services of travel companies that will explain your rights and obligations, concoct the necessary “invitation” at the Migration Service, assure it at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and charge 300-500 dollars.

With a ready-made invitation in hand, you again go to the consulate, now to get the actual visa.

Visa

The Turkmen entry visa (surprise!) is the most expensive in the world. If a multiple annual visa to the US or the UK will cost something around $200 (depending on the citizenship and place of residence of the applicant), then for a similar Turkmen visa you will have to pay more than $1000. Turkmenistan offers cheaper short-stay and single-entry visas. entry, but in a set with an “invitation” and payment for hotel accommodation (even if you don’t need a hotel), they are still unthinkably expensive.

Let's take the simplest and cheapest tourist visa - a single-entry visa, a stay of 10 days. It takes about a month and 335 dollars to get it - 35 visa + 300 "invitation". No other tourist visa in the world is worth that kind of money!

Welcome!

Even if you managed to get a visa and come to Turkmenistan, you will need special permission to visit certain settlements, such as Atamurat (formerly Kerki), Khazar (Cheleken), Serkhetabad (Kushka) and Serakhs. Even citizens of Turkmenistan, not to mention foreigners, are not allowed to go there without permission. In the language of officials of the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan, this is called "an area closed to foreign citizens." And in general, a foreigner in Turkmenistan, if he is not a guest of the government, is subject to restrictions and prohibitions at every step.

For example, your visa indicates the border crossing point of Turkmenistan. If plans have changed, you will not be allowed in anywhere else and no visa will help.

Your visa also indicates the places you can visit. If the route has changed, you will be caught and expelled from the country. If you also took pictures at the same time, then, most likely, your camera will be taken away from you before deportation. And if you were accompanied by one of the locals, then in the next few years you most likely will not see him.

Arriving in Turkmenistan, a foreign tourist is required to register with the State Committee for Tourism, appearing there in person with a passport and a certificate from the hotel. You cannot stay with relatives or acquaintances, for this you need to enter Turkmenistan at their private “invitation”. If you were “invited” in this manner, then you will have to register at the place of residence of the receiving citizen of Turkmenistan, where you will be required to provide a whole bunch of documents, including papers confirming kinship (“Hello, I am your aunt!”) And the purpose of the visit.

In 2009, speaking at a meeting of the Russian-Turkmen economic forum, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Viktor Zubkov proposed to simplify and then cancel the visa regime between Russia and Turkmenistan. “We need to achieve as soon as possible the simplification of the visa regime with the prospect of its complete abolition,” Zubkov said then, but did not achieve anything.

Theoretically, residents of the Atyrau and Mangystau regions of Kazakhstan can visit the Balkan velayat of Turkmenistan without visas (no more than 5 days), and residents of the Khorezm, Bukhara, Surkhandarya, Kashkadarya regions of Uzbekistan and the Republic of Karakalpakstan have the right to visit without visas (no more than 3 days once a month) areas of Turkmenistan directly adjacent to the Turkmen-Uzbek border. Theoretically, because there are relevant intergovernmental agreements, but no one knows what the hungry Turkmen border guard, guarding the blessed borders of his homeland, will get into his head. It may skip and wish you a happy journey, it may shoot out of fright, but most likely it will require money.

Another category of foreigners who allegedly do not need a Turkmen entry visa are honorary citizens of Turkmenistan. However, these cases are rare and not indicative. Only three holders of this honorary title are known for certain: Boris Yeltsin, Victor Sarianidi and former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. The first two have died, and the third is unlikely to travel to Turkmenistan, especially without a visa.

Ask on the Internet a question about "the most closed countries in the world." The most popular answer is North Korea, but even there citizens of Malaysia and Singapore can travel without visas. Bhutan accepts visa-free citizens of Bangladesh, India and the Maldives. And the Polynesian island state of Tuvalu, mistakenly known as “closed”, even issues entry visas to everyone in a row (including, by the way, citizens of Turkmenistan) right at the entrance.

Turkmenistan, on the other hand, is so afraid of allowing contact between local residents and visitors that it has built a "tourist pen" in Avaza for foreigners for several billion dollars. The participants of the Windsurfing World Cup stage who recently visited there were delighted in in social networks: “The country is a miracle! We have never been met with such honor! The whole hotel was at our disposal! Around servants and security! They were not told that servants with guards were needed so that the guests would not disperse. And of course, there was no one else in the hotel. There is no one there now.

Bon Voyage!

Speaking about the closed nature of Turkmenistan, it would not be superfluous to list the countries where you can travel with a Turkmen passport without worrying about obtaining a visa. There are 15 such countries in the world:

Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Ecuador, Gambia, Georgia, Grenada, Haiti, Malaysia, Micronesia, Namibia, Philippines, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sri Lanka and Turkey.

Another 30 countries offer citizens of Turkmenistan to obtain a visa "on the spot" upon arrival:

Armenia, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Comoros, Djibouti, Guinea-Bissau, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Laos, Lebanon, Madagascar, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nepal, Nicaragua, Palau, Samoa, Seychelles, Tajikistan, East Timor, Togo, Tuvalu and Uganda.

It is clear with Turkey - as Turkmenbashi said, "one people, two states." But the rest of the countries that hospitably open their doors for the citizens of Turkmenistan cannot be called idle travel destinations that are desirable for Turkmens. Armenia, Georgia - perhaps yes, but I doubt that a tourist from Turkmenistan has ever set foot on the beautiful beaches of Micronesia or Palau. I also doubt that if you show up at the Ashgabat international Airport and inform the border guard that you are heading to Antigua and Barbuda, you will not be taken directly from the airport to the lunatic asylum.

And in general, according to the list, hardly anyone will undertake to argue that the authorities of Turkmenistan do not have their own view on the idea of ​​traveling without visas. After all, any passenger can be removed from the plane without explanation, even if he flies to Malaysia, even if he has the right visa and more than one.

Turkmenistan is the most closed country in the world. The majority of Turkmens do not go anywhere (I do not mean the “golden Ashgabat youth”, who prefer traditional routes: the UAE, Turkey, Thailand). The number of tourists who have visited Turkmenistan is negligible, so much so that the exact figures are a state secret. One of the most popular tourist spots is the blazing gas crater in Darvaza. It is called "The Door to Hell". It doesn't say on the door whether it's an entrance or an exit.

Arslan Mammadov,
"Gundogar"

In Turkmenistan, the number of people wishing to move to permanent place residence abroad. Mass, all new ones force not only representatives of a non-titular nation, but also ethnic Turkmens to pack their bags. The latter leave their homes, as they say, "until better times", with the hope of returning to another Turkmenistan. The main direction is Russia, but the geography of the countries includes both Turkey and. In the last one, migrants from Turkmenistan have already settled with their whole families, parents work, and children attend local schools. ANT correspondent Azat Khatamov talked to people who are planning to leave the country and have already moved to a new homeland.

***
, 8 a.m. In front of the representative office of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in Turkmenistan, not far from the first park, a queue of about three dozen people has already formed. They say that closer to the opening [at 09:30], there will be three times as many people here. This department is engaged in receiving certificates and petitions for registration of the status of a migrant. In the afternoon, citizens who submitted documents several months ago receive ready-made papers. The queue is mostly people Slavic appearance, but there are also Turkmens. They are not particularly willing to talk about themselves and the reasons for leaving: "Ah, yes, we are preparing documents", "Ah, we'll see."

“Take a tree that has grown for years in one land, its roots clinging to these sands, and transplant it into another soil, do you think it will take root easily? Of course, it’s difficult for us, of course, we worry about what we are leaving here, we think whether we will be accepted in a new place, whether a new environment will accept us, ”says a resident of the capital, who introduced herself Tamara.

According to her, there were always thoughts about moving: both when the country only became independent, and at the turn of the new millennium, when Turkmenistan introduced a visa regime with the CIS countries. By this time, all office work had been translated into the Turkmen language, and in 2002 the authorities introduced a nine-year secondary education in Russian schools (by that time it had existed in Turkmen schools for several years).

“Yes, the times were not easy, the years were hungry, but both my husband and I had Good work, respect among colleagues. They didn’t live well, but they always had enough for the most necessary things. Once every two years, they saved up money for a trip to relatives in Russia. It was unusual to fly on a visa, after all, we lived in the same country for 70 years, especially since our family is Russian. It's like entering your father's house, first asking permission from your father to cross the threshold. But then they got used to it,” says Tamara, adding that many of her acquaintances left Turkmenistan for this very reason.

AT high-rise building where she lives, since 1994, almost all the neighbors have been updated. There were no Russians left at all - everyone moved, and the Turkmen families either moved to their own houses in the suburbs, or also left. Their apartments are occupied by countries, bought at low prices or rented.

"Impoverished Turkmens"

She said that the first years of the presidency Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov there was no thought of moving, as it was a period of retirement. Considering the work experience of her and her husband, it turned out “decently” in her hands. Besides new person at the helm of the state promised changes in the life of the people. But instead of change, new disappointments awaited people. Nuts began to tighten all the tighter and tighter, it became more and more. For Tamara and her husband, the drop that overwhelmed their patience was where the couple had a solid country house, where a piece of the desert was turned into the most real garden kept chickens and rabbits.

“At the end of 2014, we were told that, they say, crime is growing there, many illegal immigrants live. At first we didn’t believe: could they really demolish what people have developed over the years, invested their strength in this land. And in the spring of next year, bulldozers rolled in and off they went. Not understanding who lives, on what basis they live, the workers began to demolish all the houses, one after another. We complained, cursed, . Residents were sent to the city, explain, they say, everything is in the khyakimlik, and we, they say, are only performers. People were driving, and when they returned to the village,” says Tamara.

None of the owners were compensated for anything. Some were offered land right in the desert, but it takes "decades of hellish labor" to grow anything there. Tamara's family refused the offer. In May they returned to their apartment, to the concrete walls, but could no longer live there. Against the backdrop of the stress experienced, both her and her husband's health deteriorated greatly. After all this, the son called to him in Krasnodar region. The decision was made almost immediately, but then there was a problem with the sale of the apartment.

“Many mistakenly think that real estate prices in Turkmenistan fell due to the year introduced in 2016, but this is not entirely true - apartments were sold for foreign currency, and are still being sold to this day. The reason is something else, in the massive outflow of the population in recent years. People have nothing to feed their families, and there are no prospects for improving the situation. The people are fed into business, into construction, trade, but even there they are strangled from all sides, for contracts, they do not give, they find far-fetched violations and rob people to the skin. Add to this all the latter, to which even the Turkmens who are accustomed to everything. People are leaving en masse for Turkey, Cyprus and Russia. Therefore, there was an oversupply in the real estate market, and against the background of the impoverishment of the population, apartment prices collapsed, ”Tamara believes.

The family nevertheless found a client for the apartment, although the proposed amount was two times lower than that of three years earlier. The deal is already done, but new owner allowed the family to live in the apartment until the very departure. This, according to Tamara, will happen soon.

“In the declining years we will build new life close to their children and grandchildren,” she concludes. - Of course, from former colleagues, friends and neighbors who left the country in different years, we know that climate change and the situation affect the elderly not only in the best way. Many of our peers and older people did not live long in a new place, leaving for another world from sudden illnesses and longing. Of course, we look to the future with hope and optimism and count on the support of children. There is no way to continue living in your native Turkmenistan under the current regime.”

...Meanwhile, after lunch it turned out that the issuance of ready-made permits was temporarily suspended - the representative office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation ran out of forms. It is not known when new ones will be printed, they said that it is better to call before coming. People began to disperse.

To be continued

P.S. The ANT editors tried to contact the office to get some figures regarding the number of people applying for resettled status, but written requests dated February 12 and 16 remained unanswered. By phone on February 16, the department referred to the inaccessibility of the leadership in this moment to answer questions due to employment, we may be spoken to in the near future.

Photo from www.azathabar.org

Nury Khaytlyev

Turkmenistan, it was customary to say that this rich country that bathes in luxury. An example was Turkmenbashi the First, whose golden statue served as a model of the "golden system" in fact, throughout Central Asia. But the current president, G. Berdimuhamedov, is also not averse to basking in such glory. Moreover, there is someone in his honor to sing praises.

There is an employee of the archive of the President of Turkmenistan, Doctor of Philosophy Ogulgozel Rejepova every day on TV and in newspapers sings of the glorious deeds of our President. Now she undertook to carry the “glory to Arkadag” in the Internet space, wanting to show the whole world what a good, humane, honest and fair ruler is in present-day Turkmenistan.

But behind the screen of imaginary well-being - a completely different picture. And people were deprived of benefits long ago, and there are many more reasons why ordinary Turkmen cannot improve their way of life and normal life. For example, since last year, the volume of domestic consumption of fuel and lubricants has fallen by 30%, which was largely due to the abolition of coupons for car owners for free 120 liters of fuel. In addition, in the richest "blue fuel" country, most of the population buys imported gas in cylinders, and when it is not affordable, they heat stoves with dung.

At present, the unemployment rate in Turkmenistan reaches 40% of the able-bodied population. According to preliminary data, more than 1 million people are employed. Only in Turkey there are more than 300 thousand citizens of Turkmenistan, the annual departure of which is 6 thousand people, most of whom are residents of the Lebap and Dashoguz velayats. The reason for the popularity of the Turkish labor market among Turkmen citizens is the visa-free regime between the two states, as well as the similarity of the language.

For a quarter of a century, the Turkmen authorities lived on the principle of consumption, as a result, while making a profit from the sale of gas, they did not even think about directing at least part of them to support and develop other sectors of the economy. As a result, the entire national economic complex of the country has collapsed, and the Turkmens are completely dependent on imports.

Many experts also see the reason for the fall of the country's economy in corruption, which has permeated almost the entire highest echelon of power. Lower rank officials also take an example from them. Open your business, arrange a child for school, get a passport, driver license, find a job in a state institution or enter a university - you have to pay for all this in Turkmenistan.

The Heritage Foundation research center has prepared an annual Index of Economic Freedom. The rating considered the economies of 178 countries. Turkmenistan worsened its position compared to last year, taking 172nd place, and was classified as a country with a repressive economy. The report notes that officials often receive their positions for large bribes. The incompetence of officials, nepotism and the low level of participation of citizens in control over the authorities have become commonplace in the republic. Laws are very poorly developed, and judges do not have sufficient qualifications. To obtain any significant contracts, it is often necessary to be personally acquainted with one of the high-ranking officials.

One can recall the scandal around the Daimler concern, when the Germans were convicted of violating the norms of “fair” trade, for which they were forced to pay a fine of $185 million. There is also a Turkmen trace in this story. To enter the local market in 2000, the Germans "gave" the first person of the state. an armored car worth 300,000 euros.

Because of the greed of officials, especially suffers social sphere. Despite the provision on health insurance for citizens, patients actually pay more, since Turkmen hospitals have developed a system of bribes with fixed prices and medical care is simply not provided without appropriate prepayment. In addition, due to a shortage of essential medicines in hospitals, patients are forced to purchase medicines themselves. Most of medical centers are concentrated in Ashgabat and other large cities, while mobile clinics and first-aid posts operate in rural areas, the resources of which are limited. Despite the construction of new hospitals and the modernization of old hospitals in recent years, more than 60% of the medical staff in them are low-skilled specialists. Moreover, access to these modern institutions is limited to a small number of people who have the necessary connections.

Due to prejudice and clan personnel policy in the Turkmen Ministry of Health, where all more or less leading positions are occupied by brothers, sisters and other relatives of higher officials, who often have nothing to do with medicine.

Along with this, the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the country is complicated. Today, the main factor in the spread of infectious diseases is the lack of pure water. Moreover, water from untreated sources is used for food by about 85% of the population of Turkmenistan. This is exacerbated by the decline in the standard of living of the population, especially in villages where the population does not comply with elementary standards of sanitation and hygiene. For example, in the Dashoguz and Lebap velayats, children carrying tuberculosis bacillus, hepatitis C virus were found in kindergartens, and children with dysentery, typhoid fever and salmonellosis have become commonplace. Moreover, due to the lack of qualified doctors, only recently 12 children have died from these diseases. According to international experts, low qualification of doctors causes 10% of child deaths.

This is the reality in Turkmenistan.

At the same time, from the speeches of Ogulgozel Rejepova in Turkmenistan, everything is calm and stable. And it doesn’t matter that food prices have jumped several times, and unemployment is growing in the country, that again people are dying from such social diseases as tuberculosis, hepatitis, anemia, and the level of education and culture of the population is falling sharply ... All this is virtual for the authorities and takes place in some other, fictitious enemies of Turkmenistan.

Despite the undoubted Turkic origin, attested by the language, historical data and folk tales, the type of Turkmen can least of all be called purely Turkic. “Nomads,” says Vamberi, “from time immemorial, systematically engaged in raids and robbery, who were in the most lively communication with the Persians, Afghans, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Cossacks, Karakalpaks and Caucasians, very little could keep the original type clean, which currently represents mixture of Old Turkic with Aryan. A purer type has been preserved by the Chaudars, who are distinguished by a weaker physique and a smaller head than the Kirghiz, a more conical than a round skull, and a height of 5-6 feet. As we approach the southern borders of the Trans-Caspian lowland, the features of the Iranian admixture stand out all the more, the facial hair becomes more abundant, the protrusion of the cheekbones is less noticeable, and only small, somewhat obliquely located eyes indicate a partly Mongolian origin. Among the Tekkins, a real Caucasian type already appears, as well as among the Ottomans related to the Turkmens. The same can be said in general about the Turkmens, more or less neighboring to Northern Iran, although their skin color is whiter than that of the Persians, and their physique is stronger than that of a thin Iranian. Beautiful female types reminiscent of Ottoman beauties.

Prof. Yavorsky, who carried out anthropometric studies among the Turkmens, mainly among the Tekke, gives the following data on the type of this numerous branch of the Turkmens. Body composition is dominated by thin, but there is a significant% of moderately well-fed and full (26 out of 59). Growth is high, average: 1,694, in particular, tekke 1,700. Chest circumference 862, height ratio 50.88. Skin color in open areas: predominant - bronze tanned (in 31 people), then yellowish-pale (in 15 people), but there is also light (in 4 people); in closed places it is generally lighter. Hair color: predominantly dark on the head and beard, but there are also dark chestnut. The hair on the head is shaved, on the beard it is often smooth, occasionally curly. One subject has a beard length of 97 cm. The color of the rayka is dark (brown), but there is a large percentage of light gray (24%). The lips are moderate, rather full, straight. The shape of the skull is characteristic: it looks like a pusher, elongated backwards and upwards, towards the crown, sometimes quite flat. head pretty large sizes, wider than tall. The shape of the forehead is predominantly rounded. Ears are large, protruding. The direction of the palpebral fissure is predominantly horizontal. The facial angle, according to Camper, ranges between 70°-80°. The head index fluctuates between 68.69 and 81.78; dolichocephals predominate; average: 75.64 (subdolichocephalic). The anteroposterior diameter is the largest average - 193, the horizontal head circumference is average - 548. The facial line is average 185, the facial index is average 69.73, the nasal index is average 66.66