2019
September
The Constitution is being reviewed
September 9th
A commission is set up to prepare a proposal for a number of constitutional amendments. The purpose of the amendments is to reorganize, improve and strengthen Parliament. It is likely that Parliament will be offered a second chamber. It should also be clarified how the country should be governed if the president can no longer perform his duties. Assessors believe the constitutional changes are to strengthen President Serdar’s position ahead of a planned change of power between father and son.
- COUNTRYAAH: List of key population facts of Turkmenistan, covering most basic population data, religion statistics, and language profiles.
- According to ABBREVIATIONFINDER, TKM stands for the country of Turkmenistan in geography.
August
Rumors of the president’s death are demented
12th of August
President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow is publicly appearing for the first time since July 5. Thereby, the rumors of his death are being dismissed as having been disseminated by opposition media abroad. The president opens speeches at an economic forum on the Caspian Sea in the city of Avaza. Also present are the heads of government of Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan as well as Iran’s vice president.
April
New city is being built
April 9
President Berdimuhamedow takes the first three spades in the construction of a new city outside the capital Ashgabat. According to the president, the city will have around 70,000 inhabitants, and in addition to sports arenas, residential buildings, public buildings and museums, an international horse breeding college will also be established there. The city has yet to receive a name, which, according to analysts, suggests that it should be named after the president himself. It will be located in Berdimuhamedow’s home province of Ahal.
March
Criticism of how journalists are harassed
11th of March
Reporters Without Borders and several other individual organizations demand that Turkmen authorities stop harassing independent journalists. The claim is made after the local journalist Soltan Achilova was charged with a travel ban after being arrested, interrogated, detained and released on several occasions and soon to be arrested again.
February
Closer cooperation with Afghanistan
February 21st
President Berdimuhamedow and his Afghan colleague, President Ghani, sign a strategic partnership agreement between the two countries at a meeting in Ashgabat. Among other things, Berdimuhamedow should have offered to broker peace between the Kabul government and the Taliban movement.
