In Ashgabat, Turkmenistan the streets are white marble, Guinness Book of World Record holder, yet the people have frowns on their faces. When Turkmenistan gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the birth of a new era began. The new president, Saparmurat Niyazov wanted to rebuild the country and make it brand new. He began to tear down monuments and put new ones up of him. he repaved the streets with white marble and put flags up everywhere. In the process of doing this, he destroyed thousands of homes leaving the poorer homeless. And when Niyazov died, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov took his place. He tore down shops and places of business to put in massive fountains and new skyscrapers. He built an all new bigger and better palace and turned the streets into his personal boulevard. He also wanted to rid the country of any Russia-Turkmen and reporter Stanislav Volkov was a target of discrimination. He, along with other Russia-Turkmen, have been arrested for exposing the true nature of Ashgabat. Some have tortured: Volkov was attacked with acid while walking down the street. Most journalists go missing and are never seen nor heard from again. The conditions are only worsening on the side of Ashgabat that people never see. I think that President Berdimuhamedov is a complete dictator. He claims that he is only trying to help his people and country when he knows that he’s only making it worse. Ashgabat may be pretty but the people are not happy. And with Berdimuhamedov controlling and social media and internet, realizing the true nature of Turkmenistan is a difficult and dangerous road.
