Who will live in Arkadag worth 1.5 billion dollars?
One of the most repressive and isolated countries in the world, Turkmenistan is in poverty. But the government 1.5 billion is preparing to inaugurate a new city that cost $. State officials of this city in Turkmenistan “fast social– they claim that it shows economic development.
A new city called Arkadag is an authoritarian leader who has ruled the country with an iron fist for almost 16 years Gurbangulu Berdimuhammedovnamed after him.
65-year-old Berdimuhamedov’s son Sardaralthough it transmits a of parliament remains the chairman of the upper chamber and maintains a strong influence on the country’s administration.
The city of Arkadag is located 30 kilometers southwest of the capital Ashgabat Iran and will be the capital of Akhal province, located on the border with Afghanistan.
The construction of the project started in 2019. In the same year, Sardar Berdimuhamedov was appointed the governor of Akhal province.
Until the completion of the project, Berdimuhamedov Jr. was appointed to the positions of Minister of Industry and Construction Materials and Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers between the governorship and the presidency.
In April, Sardar Berdimuhamedov called for a “public discussion” to find a name for the new city.
As expected, the speaker of the lower house of Turkmenistan’s parliament announced the newly elected name on December 21, claiming that “the wishes of residents of all regions” and “suggestions of public institutions” had been taken into account.
However, sources told RFE/RL’s Turkmen service that the decision regarding the name was already known in May.
Observers laugh at the presentation of city naming as a democratic practice.
“There is no sign of a public campaign. How did they ask the opinion of people in these regions where there is no internet and even poor mobile transmission? The name of the city is an illusion. The city itself is an illusion.” – Professor of Eurasian Sciences at the University of Glasgow Luca Anceschi (Luca Anceschi) says.
Arkadag is not like most cities of Turkmenistan, even provincial capitals. In the images released by the state media, the city is more than Ashgabat’s billions of dollars gas one gets the impression that it is similar to the central part, which is full of buildings with white marble facades, built for show purposes. Meanwhile, other parts of the country are in a long-term economic crisis.
Turkmen officials describe Arkadag as a “smart city”. Here, the hippodrome, in the name of the former president child it is said that there will be a rehabilitation center and a statue of Arkadag. One of the central streets of the city will be named after the patriarch’s favorite horse Akha.
The city was designed to accommodate 12,000 families.
Editor of “Turkmen.News” website operating in Europe and run by immigrants Ruslan Myatiyev says that members of the elite in Arkadag and judge Those with ties to the Berdimuhamedov family will settle.
According to him, this is in line with the policy of the Berdimuhamedovs, who are used to separating their extended clans from the general population and keeping them “away from the food queues” that have become common in the face of growing poverty and shortages.
“Currently, relatives – and this is a very broad concept that includes even the most distant relatives – have occupied several neighborhoods built at the expense of state funds in Ashgabat and beyond.” – the journalist says.
In contrast, “since around 2015, the general population of Turkmenistan has been living without a clear vision of the future,” Myatiyev added.
Despite all the evidence, Turkmenistan’s state propaganda insistently insists on continuous economic achievements.
Only once, that time last year the president Berdimuhamedov admitted that the state could not pay its foreign debts on time.
The reality is that the government is struggling to pay the salaries of public sector employees even on time. This includes the construction workers who built the city of Arkadag. This news was reported by the Turkmen service of RFE/RL in September.
This month, residents of some neighborhoods of Ashgabat told the radio that they were left without water and heat during the cold season.
In November, RFE/RL’s Turkmen service reported a sharp increase in demand for second-hand clothes and used household items in the market in Turkmenabad, the capital of Lebap province in the east of the country.
“When you go to people’s homes, you see that they are just trying to survive, bread they sold half of their belongings to buy – a resident told the radio.
Turkmenistan’s highly energy-dependent economy in 2014 gas has worsened sharply since prices fell and Russia stopped importing in 2016.
Recently, global energy prices increased again Russia and started buying Turkmen gas again. China, the main customer of Turkmenistan, during the first nine months of the year 7 billion bought dollar worth of fuel.
However, all these could not raise the economy of Turkmenistan. In the face of chronic food shortages and price hikes in the country, the government’s priority is to spend money on multi-million glory projects.
Poverty, corruption and unemployment have forced millions of Turkmen to leave the country in recent decades.
“No matter what the official statistics say, there is a new city being built in a country with a declining population. In a country where there is no tourism 2 billion costing dollars and preventing citizens from fleeing the country weather there is a port. Everything is upside down, but we can be sure of one thing that someone is making a lot of money from all these projects. Because these are instruments of corruption.” – says Professor Ancheski.
But there is little hope for change. President Sardar Berdimuhamedov’s father’s “way he promised to continue.