Saparmurat Niyazov

Turkmenistan all state televisions display the image of the “President for Life” Saparurat Atayevich (Committee to Protect Journalists, 2006). The current President Saparmurat Niyazov government maintains complete control over the media with the first law being executed in 2013 which is the first law of its kind to be approved in Turkmenistan since their independence. Censorship is extensive and an atmosphere of fear prevents the media from reporting on accidents or any negative events. Furthermore the Ministry of State Security visits the editors and journalists keeping them under constant tight surveillance (Freedom House, 2014). In addition, authorities maintain control by the introduction of “cross censorship” which requires all newspaper articles to be reviewed by a second ministry in addition to who wrote it alongside this. Each newscaster must begin the broadcast with a pledge that “their tongues will shrivel if their reports ever slander the country, the flag or the president” (Editiorials, 2006). This law was demonstrated when the President was thrown from his horse during the Turkmen Racehorse and all images related to the event were deleted and tourists were searched for any recording devices that may contain information about this event (RT, 2013). The Prime Minister feels that the censorship is necessary because Niyazov and his associates enjoy the unlimited power and control in the aspects of life in Turkmenistan. Another incident that demonstrates the…

in terms of sociopathic dictator sports enthusiasts. Mobutu was president and military dictator of the Congo-- which he renamed Zaire in 1971-- from 1965 until 1997. But he took a break from hosting public hangings and staging coups to host the iconic “Rumble in the Jungle” in 1974. He even had a new stadium built specifically for the Muhammad Ali/George Foreman fight. What a guy! The rewrite history and culture. Saparmurat Niyazov was the leader of Turkmenistan from 1985 until his death in…

Ambassadors is a comedy-drama show, produced by the BBC2, that offers an insight into the workings of the British embassy in the fictional country of Tazbekistan. Although fictional, Tazbekistan comes very close to the existing Central Asian countries. It’s drowning in corruption, human rights abuses, gender inequality, drugs, it relies on foreign investors, and its politics are tightly related to patronage networks built around the president, who, similarly to Kazahstan’s Nursultan Nazarbayev…