BERDYMUKHAMMEDOV‟S TURKMENISTAN A MODEST SHIFT IN DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL POLITICS

Abstract

Abstract:While Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov seeks to reintegrate Turkmenistan on theinternational and regional levels and attempts to establish new partnerships with foreigncompanies to accelerate investments, domestic policy seems a poor reflection of theregime‟s evolution. The authorities‟ attention is focused on social issues totally neglectedby the regime of Saparmurat Niyazov. New schools were built, provincial hospitals havereopened, roads and railways are improving, land reforms, however small, are welcomed,and a modest decentralization has emerged. However, the general social situation remainstense: a total absence of public liberty, violations of religious rights, mostlyunacknowledged massive unemployment, a loss of confidence of the middle classes,whose educational and professional opportunities have been reduced, increasingcorruption of state organs, and rural poverty influenced by the social problems of recentyears. Yet, the main long-term problem probably remains the country‟s lack of humancapital, which was destroyed in recent decades and needs time to be restored.

Keywords:Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, Domestic Politics, Education, Health,Media, Food Security.