Here is an interesting twist, apparently, former President Niyazov’s poetry works are still necessary to learn in order to graduate in Turkmenistan. I am suprised that President Lukashenko didn’t follow the trend…yet.

Academic freedom issues

No master’s degrees or doctorates have been granted in the country since 1998. Government permission was required to study abroad and receive recognition of foreign degrees. The Ministry of Education has taken no new steps to act on the president’s decision to facilitate recognition of foreign degrees; no foreign degrees were recognized during the year.
The government did not tolerate criticism of government policy or the president in academic circles, and curtailed research into areas it considered politically sensitive, such as comparative law, history, ethnic relations, or theology. Officials from the Ministry of Education and provincial authorities sought to prevent students who were not ethnically Turkmen from entering exchange programs. University enrollment increased by some 4,000 students, after a decline in past years.

Niyazov’s Ruhnama, Ruhnama II, poetry volumes, The Spring of My Inspiration, and My Beloved, remained part of the school curriculum, and passing tests on knowledge of the Ruhnama was still necessary for advancement or graduation. However, teachers reported having to spend substantially less class time on former President Niyazov’s works than in the past, as the revamped curriculum introduced new subjects and an expanded and more fact-based study of local history and culture.

Although restrictions eased somewhat, the government continued to control attendance at nonindigenous cultural events and refused to permit the production of some foreign plays and performances in state theaters. While the government demonstrated little or no support for non-Turkmen music, classical music was taught and performed throughout the country. Traditional local music, which had not been performed for years, was beginning to be played in concerts and social events. Pirated copies of international films were available for sale or rent for home viewing. The Ministry of Culture censored and then monitored all public exhibitions–music, art and cultural.

General human rights issues

Despite some measures taken by the authorities to improve Turkmenistan’s image, it still has a very poor human rights record as indicated by the US Department of State report. Human rights problems included: citizens’ inability to change their government; torture and mistreatment of detainees; incommunicado and prolonged detention; arbitrary arrest and detention; house arrest; denial of due process and a fair trial; arbitrary interference with privacy, home, and correspondence; restrictions on freedom of speech, press, assembly, and association; restrictions on religious freedom, including continued harassment of some religious minority group members; restrictions on freedom of movement for some citizens; violence against women; and restrictions on free association of workers.

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