Where Are Alisher Sakhadov and Abdulla Orusov? A New Year That Turned Into Endless Waiting
New Year is supposed to be a time of hope, warmth, and togetherness.
But for Gulala Hasanova, this New Year became a time of pain, tears, and despair.
She has four children.
Ben Türkmenistan vatandaşı Güllala Hasanova. Dört çocuk annesi olarak sizden yardım istemek zorundayım. Çok zor bir süreçten geçiyorum. Maddi değil, manevi olarak büyük bir çaresizlik içindeyim.
Eşim Alişher Sahatov, 28 Nisan 2025 tarihinde evimizden alındı. Önce bir hafta Ankara Akyurt Geri Gönderme Merkezi’nde tutuldu, ardından Edirne Geri Gönderme Merkezi’ne sevk edildi. Orada iki buçuk aydan fazla kaldı.
En son 24 Temmuz gecesi saat 19:58’de eşimle konuştum. O andan sonra kendisinden bir daha haber alamadım. 25 Temmuz günü saat 11:00–12:00 arasında Edirne Geri Gönderme Merkezi’nden arandım. Orada kalan kişiler, eşimin gece saatlerinde sevk edildiğini, nereye götürüldüğünü bilmediklerini ve sadece bana haber vermemi istediğini söylediler.
Avukat gönderdiğimizde ise eşimin Sinop’a sevk edildiği söylendi. Ancak eşim Sinop’a hiç ulaşmadı. Çıkışına dair hiçbir resmi evrak verilmedi. Ancak bir ay sonra eksik belgeler sunuldu. Kamera kayıtlarına ise ulaşamıyoruz.
15 aydır çalmadığım kapı kalmadı. Bir anne ve bir eş olarak çaresizim. Dört çocuğumun hatırına sizden yardım istiyorum.
Saygılarımla,
Güllala Hasanova
@EU_Commission@Turkmenistan@WhiteHouse@vonderleyen@OSCESecGen@kajakallas@TrumpDailyPosts@UN_HRC
Price list for bribes #Turkmenistan Teachers "are forced to pay the principal a bribe of 2,000 manat to get a job at a school", "another 2,000 manat or so must be paid to secure a sufficient number of teaching hours and, consequently, a decent salary", "School staff are occasionally asked to contribute 50 or 100 manats. An upcoming inspection by the city education department is sometimes cited as the reason—allegedly, the money is needed to host a meal for the inspectors or to buy them gifts. In other instances, the collections are attributed to the school's needs." https://t.co/27YQLGKc1Z
Corruption in Turkmenistan’s education sector occurs at various levels, from grand, large-scale forms to petty forms, with bribery and extortion being the most common practices. However, other forms of corruption practices in the education sector, such as embezzlement, diversion of budget funds allocated to education, bid rigging, private tutoring, academic fraud, and unfair recruitment and promotion decisions based on favoritism, nepotism, and bribery, are also present in Turkmenistan, as in other Central Asian countries #Turkmenistan https://t.co/Lo59xRugWK
First Statements at the OSCE Warsaw Conference: Central Asia Under Growing Pressure
At the OSCE Warsaw Human Dimension Conference, one of the first joint statements by human rights organizations addressing the situation in Central Asia was presented. The statement focuses on the shrinking civic space, pressure on independent organizations, persecution of activists, and the use of legislation to suppress criticism.
The statement addresses Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Key points:
Civic space across Central Asia continues to shrink. Independent organizations operate under increasing scrutiny, stigmatization, and persecution.
Human rights defenders, activists, journalists, bloggers, and other critical voices face criminal prosecution, arrest, and imprisonment.
Repression is increasingly extending beyond national borders and into the digital sphere, highlighting the growing problem of transnational and digital repression.
Authorities use vaguely worded provisions on “false information,” extremism, incitement, disobedience, and mass disturbances to punish peaceful expression and civic or political activity.
Governments are urged to end arbitrary restrictions on freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, as well as preventive detention and other forms of repression against peaceful protesters and organizers.
States should ensure independent investigations into threats, attacks, torture, and other abuses against human rights defenders, journalists, and activists, and hold those responsible accountable.
A separate demand is to prevent digital technologies from being used to persecute individuals for their civic and human rights activities.
International partners and OSCE participating States are urged to make the protection of civic space a permanent priority in political dialogue with Central Asian governments and to raise both systemic violations and individual cases.
For Turkmenistan, these demands are particularly significant. The near-total absence of independent civic space inside the country is compounded by pressure on critics abroad, severe restrictions on freedom of expression and association, and risks faced by citizens engaged in civic and human rights activities.
The first statements at the conference send an important message: human rights must not be treated as a secondary issue in relations with Central Asian states. The protection of civil society should be an integral part of political, economic, and international cooperation.
This approach must also be consistently applied to Turkmenistan: international actors should move beyond general diplomatic rhetoric and demand concrete changes in legislation and practice, an end to persecution, and full compliance with international human rights obligations.
Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor #Turkmenistan New inland terminal to concentrate east–west freight flows around the capital lacks a modern logistics center that can support economic diversification. Around 50 percent of TDY locomotives require replacement or overhaul to continue operating beyond 2030; wagon fleet (12,000–14,000 wagons) is obsolete and requires replacement. Turkmenbashi Ashgabat railway line, Dushak–Mary Turkmenabad railway line require major modernization @WorldBankECA https://t.co/sqfaTiCo4U
Benim de eşim 15 ay bundan önce kayboldu 3 ay geri gönderme merkezinde tutular.24 Temmuz 2025 tarihinde serbest bıraktık dediler ama nereye serbest bıraktıkları belli değil bulunamıyor çalmadığım kapı kalmadı hiç kimse cevap vermiyor yetersiz delil diye dosyalarımı kapattılar.Ben sadece Adalet istiyorum bir adam kaybolur da nereye gitti��ini hangi yöne gittiğini şimdiki devirde bulmuyorlar.Hangi devirde yaşıyoruz teknolojinin büyüdüğü devirde yaşıyoruz.@adalet_bakanlik @RTErdogan @AliYerlikaya @TC_Disisleri @edirne_valiligi @EdirneEmniyet @Gocidaresi @yenisafakyazari
Very little is remembered of the 1948 Ashgabat earthquake in scientific research, ethnography, oral histories, and creative literature #Turkmenistan Few survivors and witnesses remain #Ashgabat Autocracy is erasing the collective memory.
Turkmenistan joined the Global Methane Pledge on December 1, 2023. Three years on, the government is learning about the international standards. No data and no research came out of the cooperation funded by the European Union, the German Federal Foreign office, and implemented by GIZ #Turkmenistan https://t.co/8ZXHOWK44c
The government provides no data on reserve assets, foreign exchange but "asks to keep the market under control" in the context of steadily increasing meat prices, deteriorating nutrition and access to fruits and vegetables #Turkmenistan The photo demonstrates government's understanding of "food security" #Ashgabat
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🇹🇲 Turkmenistan and methane: when will the real modernisation of the oil and gas infrastructure begin?
On 1 October, representatives of Turkmenistan, the EU and GIZ discussed international standards for reducing methane emissions in Ashgabat. However, previous satellite monitoring detected methane emissions of up to 10 tonnes per hour at some of the country’s oil and gas facilities, while an analysis by Kayrros indicated that emissions increased by approximately 19% in 2024.
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that accelerates global warming and contributes to the formation of ground-level ozone, which is harmful to human health.
Key questions remain unanswered: When will the ageing oil and gas infrastructure be modernised? Where are the publicly available data on the condition of equipment, methane leaks and air quality? Why are citizens not provided with regular environmental information?
Methane reductions should be measured not by the number of international meetings held, but by the number of leaks repaired, facilities modernised and the actual reduction in emissions.
📌 Full article:
https://t.co/gwKUWKeDWT
Turkmenistan's permanent representative masks extreme isolation, kleptocratic rule and domestic repression at United Nations General Debate, 81st session by highlighting "permanent neutrality, international peace and security, sustainable transport and energy connectivity, and climate cooperation" #Turkmenistan https://t.co/CSEZp4UyQH
Turkmenistan grants permanent residence permits to 146 people in 2026. Thousands of citizens of Turkmenistan lost their citizenship and residency due to repressive migration policy and absence of passport services at Turkmen consulates' overseas #Turkmenistan https://t.co/BvINOVvoIp
Astangulov, Minister of Finance and Economy #Turkmenistan sings the old song of "GDP here, GDP there" in front of the international community and does not address questions related to the international reserve assets, official holdings of gold and foreign exchange, and a complete balance of payments #Ashgabat @IMF https://t.co/m17ZzItA8D
Turkmenistan is moving against the regional trend: while undernourishment has declined across Central Asia, it has risen in Turkmenistan in recent years. The country also faces nutrition challenges, including child wasting, anemia among women of reproductive age, and rising adult obesity #Turkmenistan https://t.co/2467EtPzg5