Turkmenistan: The World’s Wackiest Dictatorship?

Explore the untold story of Turkmenistan! From President Berdimuhamedov's surprising rap skills to the nation's hidden truths, journey through history, culture, and the struggles of a quiet nation.

[meganrobinson]

A video on Eritrea would be fascinating

[van_trippin]

I used to work with Turkmenistan Airlines, their reps used to come over with books just full of pictures of horses we were supposed to swoon over, very weird meetings

[rashedusman]

I read about Turkmenistan in a book written by a journalist that visited Turkmenistan, Tadjikistan, Uzbekistan, Kirgizistan and Kazahstan, and all I can say is that it's just amazing how much bullsh*t people can take in order to live another day.

[YoutubeBorkedMyOldHandle_why]

It never fails to amaze, just how much of the World's population is at the mercy of a mere handful of brutal despots.

[imyyu]

I travelled there a few years ago, and it was pretty crazy. Ashgabat is incredibly beautiful, but all the streets are totally empty and these vast plazas have nobody there. It's like you are touring the world's biggest outdoor museum in some ways. And there are crazy laws - it is illegal to have a dirty car, all cars should be white, no smoking outdoors (you can only smoke inside!), and other nonsense. That said, it was an experience to remember...kinda like traveling to the past 40 years ago where there were no cell phones or internet.

[NapoleonicWargaming]

I like the walk of health. We should force our politicians to do it while we all watch on TV

[eleanorofaquitaine]

I personally don't like so much use of AI generated images, but I appreciate that this channel labels them. Thank you :)

[xeanderman]

One day I will find every Simon's channel

[stenic]

Turkmenistan was always one of those counties I saw in an atlas but knew nothing about until about a decade ago when I read a story about their ruler declaring that their new national sport would be ice hockey despite the fact most of the country is desert and they had 1 ice rink in the entire country, that sent me down a worm hole and just when you thought their rulers couldn't be more crazy you find out something new.

[Kaltagstar]

If Turkmenistan wasn't such a horrific dictatorship, the over the top antics of their post independence leaders would be pretty funny, there are Bond villains who are less over the top.

[amyblairkim]

I lived in Kyrgyzstan for five years, and I had a Scottish friend who had lived in Turkmenistan for over a decade after the fall of the USSR until the government kicked him out and he moved to Bishkek. He had such interesting stories to tell.

[tomcook]

“Look in my eyes, what do you see?…a cult of personality” 🎼🎼

[JohnSmith-twpo]

I was in Turkmenistan a few months ago - the most surreal memory was seeing the newspaper about a New Year celebration and having the President badly photoshopped into the pageant with the shadows completely off. Also it's sort of weird seeing hijabs in the AI depictions of Turkmenistan - I didn't see anyone in a hijab even outside Ashgabat, not that I saw many people in Turkmenistan period.

[Bubbaist]

Have you seen photos of the marble city at night? Think of Pyongyang and Las Vegas combined… without the people, of course.

[hvitekristesdod]

I always knew of this place but never knew much about it. Thank you Simon!!

[GrievousReborn]

This video went from Brain Blaze to Into the Shadows

[lepeotmit]

Once I was with a woman from Turkmenistan. She told me about this country a lot. Basically this country is the hell on earth! She flew all on her own to Germany because of the horrible circumstances there when she was just 20. In Turkmenistan they do force the people to speak the Turkmen language which is relatively close to Turkish.
This state has spies literally everywhere.
For example: If someone says that you are gay to any spy, the spies/cops will instantly catch and kill you because it is strictly forbidden to be gay anyhow in this country!
This country is unfortunately very absurd!

Nevertheless this woman impressed me very by how she made it in Germany. She learned the language very very well, she did put a lot of effort to integrate herself into the german system, she went to school and did her graduation here and is a woman with a big heart and a very nice personality! Maybe the nicest person I have ever met in my entire life!

[rossl]

I went to Turkmenistan in 2012 because I worked for a company that makes equipment for broadcast TV. They spent so much money on the new state TV station - pity you didn't mention that building and show a picture. All it broadcast (at the time) was about 6 hours a day of shows about horses and carpets plus a couple of news updates. Definitely different to any other country I've been to.

[cantsay]

Central Asia in general is just so fascinating to me.

[magnuszerum]

Those cotton fields are in the process of triggering a massive water crisis in the Aral Sea Drainage Basin.