Anis H. Bajrektarevic is a Professor and a Chairperson for International Law and Global

SOCIAL AND DEMOgRAPHIC CHALLENgES
Although Turkmenistan’s laws and regulations
state that all citizens have the same civil rights,
ethnic minorities (e.g. Uzbeks, Russians, Kaza-
khs opponents of regime etc.) often face dis-
crimination regarding education and civil
services. They are banned from the right to vote
in parliamentary elections. Furthermore, former
President Niyazov propagated his extreme na-
tional ideology of the “perfect Turkmen.” 
President Niyazov also considered himself to be
the Father of all Turkmen engulfing himself and
the country in his eccentric and pervasive cult
of personality. Upon Niyazov’s death, it was ex-
pected that his cult of personality would be dis-
mantled, but it was only replaced by the new
President’s, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov,
affinity for himself.
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Concerning salary income inequality, the great-
est among the Central Asia states with grave
differences between urban and rural living con-
ditions, the regime tried hard to improve the so-
cial security system. It also considers providing
handicapped people, sick people, and provid-
ing maternity benefits. When Niyazov declared
himself as President for Life in 1999, he drasti-
cally cut back on social welfare programs while
spending money on lavish and often outra-
geous projects.
Human rights abuses are reported to run ram-
pant in the country. Many international human
rights watchdog groups including Amnesty In-
ternational and Human Rights Watch (HRW) de-
scribe the human rights situation in
Turkmenistan extremely repressive, “media and
religious freedoms are subject to draconian re-
strictions, and human rights defenders and
other activists face the constant threat of gov-
ernment reprisal” and that torture remains
widespread.[96]
Citizens of Turkmenistan are forced to see its
leader’s face throughout the country, are forced
to attend hour long events and are not allowed
to leave or use the toilet according to HRW 2014
World Report on human rights[97]. There is lit-
tle media coverage that actually report what is
going on inside in the country. A simple glance
at news outlets reporting news on Turk-
menistan only highlight the President’s visits
and what things he is doing for the people of
Turkmenistan. 
There are no independent media outlets, lim-
ited internet access (even though it has ex-
panded 
under 
the 
Presidency
Berdymukhammedov). Internet fees are $100
month, which many cannot afford and internet
activity is monitored along with other elec-
tronic and telecommunications activity.[98]
The Turkmen government has been accused of
making false accusations to imprison political
opponents, human rights advocates, and many
have been victims of what HRW calls “enforced
disappearances” and many of those kidnapped
are believed to have died in detention.[99] 
Religion and state are largely kept separate and
only Sunni Islam and the Russian Orthodox
Church are officially recognized and are tightly
controlled by the regime. Groups are forced to
register and face regular government scrutiny.
According to Amnesty International, a 2013
code, “Provisions in the Code of Administrative
Offences, which came into force in January,
punished the import, export and distribution of
religious materials.”[100] Many Jehovah’s wit-
nesses were imprisoned in 2013; one remains
in jail.[101] Similar to the situation in Tajikistan,
no “congregations of unregistered religious
groups or communities are allowed, and reli-
gious communities have been unable to regis-
ter for years” in Turkmenistan.[102] This creates
a high risk for those who wish to practice reli-
gion in private. A new 2013 law determined
that “new fines for involvement in unregistered
religious activity”; the law is to go into force in
2014[103].