Trouble in paradise
The foreign ministryt of the usually tranquil and sedate Central Asian republic of Turkmenistan has stated that this paradise on earth has seen heavy fighting in the north of the Stalinist / Las Vegas capital Ashgabat, in which about twenty policemen were killed. Who would be unhappy in this state, not unlike Ireland, where all but the most important hospitals and schools in the capital have been closed and most have to eke out a subsistence existence? Early reports spoke of Islamic militants, but then the Foreign ministry spoke of a criminal gang linked to drug smuggling. Islam has traditionally been fairly weak here, far more so than in neighbouring Uzbekistan. The prayer leaders are appointed and paid by the government and must pray for the health of the president and the memory of his predecessor (father?) the great if tiny Turkmenbashi. The country is known to be on the transport route for Afghani heroine, but it has been for years with the connivance of the authorities, so why should things flarre up now, unless the traffickers refused to pay higher bribes to the police to look the other way.
This is worrying for president Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov (that’s his name). It is enough to give him a serious bout of toothatche, which he, as a qualified dentist, is probably in a good position to alleviate.
But the fact remains this sort of thing never happened during the era of Turkmenbashi. The only violence to occur was meted out, fairly liberally, by the police to the few people brave enough to put their heads above the ramparts. He has obviously taken his eye off the switch. The question is: where will it end? Maybe Turkmenbashi’s larger-than-life statue in Central Square will stop moving.
