TURKMENISTAN REJOINS THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY
The article summarizes the Internet expansion trends in Turkmenistan under late president Niyazov and current president Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov providing details and statistics from various sources. Turkmenistan is belatedly giving its population a chance to interact with their peers worldwide. On February 14 Berdimukhamedov reiterated that the Internet would be available to all Turkmen citizens and promised to ease the country’s restrictive Internet policies. On Feb 16th, when two new Internet cafes opened in Ashgabat, Berdimukhamedov met with Alexei Tikhomirov, head of the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The Internet was high on the agenda, as both sides discussed further developing information-communication technologies in Turkmenistan. But, even with the new government facilities Internet access remains a major problem for aspiring Turkmen web surfers. Access currently costs more than $4 an hour, a princely sum in a country with an estimated 60% unemployment rate and an average annual income of $1,340 (CIA World Factbook 2007). In 2005 the United Nations estimated that 44% of Turkmenistan’s population lived on less than $2 per day; prevailing rates would therefore deny Internet access to all but a privileged, wealthy few (United Nations IRIN, September 5, 2005). John C. K. Daly, The Eurasia Daily Monitor, Jamestown Foundation, Volume 4, Issue 64, April 2, 2007 Link to source: http://www.jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2372069
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Turkmenistan Internet Update (from RFE/RL):
The New York-based nongovernmental organization Human Rights Watch says in an April 12 report that "the only sign of possible political reform" the new leader has given so far is a promise to make the Internet more accessible to the Turkmen people. Yet, even this announcement remains largely symbolic. The two government-sponsored Internet cafes that have opened in Ashgabat are charging their clients up to 60,000 manats ($11.50) per hour, an exorbitant fee by local standards. The presence of soldiers at the doors -- at least in the days following the February opening -- and the obligation to show one's passport prior to using a computer are likely to further dissuade potential customers. Reports that authorities are considering hiring Chinese experts to help keep electronic communications under strict control are yet another indication that Turkmen may not have free access to the Internet for a long time.
By Shoshana Billik, at 5:06 PM
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