.tm Comes To Life
December last year saw the welcome death of Turkmenistan’s comic tyrant Saparmurat Niyazov. In typical tinpot style the incoming president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedow, was elected with a massive majority against no opposition party candidates. So far, so bad.
The new president is, surprisingly, off to an excellent start. Within a week of formally taking power, Berdimuhammedow has legalised Internet access in Turkmenistan and the capital, Ashkabat, has its first Internet cafes. Internet cafe owners report that there are no restrictions on sites that may be visited.
This is huge. Despite the fact that Internet access costs NZ$6 an hour, which is way out of the reach of ordinary Turkmen, the fact that the world’s information is now allowed into the country unrestricted is an enormous change for the better. If information is genuinely unrestricted then, in this respect, Turkmenistan may now be freer than China, France, or New Zealand.
Hat tip: Liberty Scott.
