Often referred to as North Korea 2.0, Turkmenistan witnessed unprecedented public protests. On May 15, according to the US-financed propaganda mouthpiece, RFERL, “hundreds of people have taken part in a rare protest in Turkmenistan to call attention to the government's failure to help repair damage caused by recent wind and rainstorms that devastated eastern parts of the country.”
A day after the protests, Turkmenistan’s autocratic ruler, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, pardoned 1,402 prisoners.
While it is not clear if the two events are connected, both occurrences are quite unusual for the most oppressive regime in Central Asia.
In February 2020, Crescent International concluded that due to the recently completed Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) that will bring natural gas from the Caspian Sea to Western Europe bypassing Russia, Central Asia will witness far greater acts of instability in the coming months and years.
Courtesy: RFERL