Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan urges citizens to start wearing masks to combat “dust”
New rules on masks and social distancing introduced after WHO visit look suspiciously like those used to contain coronavirus but Turkmenistan still claims to have no cases at all.
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov takes a holiday as WHO mission finally arrives in Ashgabat
Turkmenistan is one of the only countries worldwide that has not officially registered a single COVID-19 case. Independent reports say the virus has been allowed to spread to all regions of the country.
Protests pose unprecedented threat to Turkmenistan’s authoritarian government
Turkmenistan faces a new set of political and economic problems as protests become widespread and the government is unwilling to address the situation.
China and Russia blur lines on “division of labour” in exerting influence over Central Asia
Author of report from Washington think tank points to fading of traditional arrangement whereby Moscow takes care of security matters while Beijing takes care of the economic side.
LONG READ: The Growers - a handful of countries in New Europe are coping with the coronacrisis and are still expanding
Gold-exporting Uzbekistan has the emerging Europe region's best shot at achieving positive GDP growth this year. Other economies managed to expand in Q1 but will be pushed into full-year contractions.