Internet cafes tie Turkmenistan to world
by Alexander Vershinin

The Associated Press    Translate This Article
18 February 2007

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) - For one of the world's most reclusive countries, the computers on shabby desks with cheap plastic chairs represent a small crack in two decades of isolation.

Days after Turkmenistan's first new leader since the Soviet era was sworn in—following the death of the eccentric autocrat Saparmurat Niyazov—the poor Central Asian nation's first Internet cafes opened to the public Friday.

Whether residents of a country will be able to surf the Web like people elsewhere remains an open question.

``We have opened Internet cafes in Ashgabat, and similar ones in regional centers will follow,'' said the new president, Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov, in televised remarks at a government session. ``Soon each public school will have Web access.''

There are two cafes in downtown Ashgabat, the capital, one in the solemn Soviet-era Central Telegraph building and the other in a dilapidated telephone exchange station. Each is located in a small room equipped with five computers, as well as rudimentary desks and chairs.

The cafes sat empty most of the day Friday, said cafe administrator Jenet Khudaikulieva, since few had heard about them. But she insisted that no Web sites would be blocked, and there was no visible attempt to register visitors or log the sites they were surfing.

An Associated Press reporter was able to easily read the Web sites of international news organizations as well as political opposition sites.

Previously, Web access was restricted to a limited few and independent online publications were blocked by government filters.

One hour of computer time costs about $4—a princely sum in a country where two-thirds of the population live below the poverty line and the average monthly income is less than $100.

``The connection speed is fantastic but the price stinks,'' said Gulsar Berdyklycheva, a third-year university student who dropped in to check e-mail.

Tatyana Strigina, a street vendor, said she could not afford Web access at current prices.

``It's way too expensive,'' she said.

Unrestricted Internet access was one of Berdymukhamedov's election promises, which also included education reforms, higher pensions and support for private entrepreneurship. He won an overwhelming victory over five rivals in Sunday's presidential vote and was inaugurated Wednesday.

The vote, however, was tightly controlled and was not monitored by foreign election observers. Berdymukhamedov pledged to follow the general course set by Niyazov, who ruled the natural gas-rich nation for two decades and cultivated a massive personality cult.

Under Niyazov, who called himself Turkmenbashi or Father of All Turkmen, Internet access was tightly restricted to state-run and officially approved organizations, embassies, accredited foreign journalists and international groups. State-run television broadcast persistent paeans to Niyazov and devoted extensive coverage to his travels and ceremonies. Newspapers were all government-controlled.

Niyazov also reduced compulsory education from 10 years to nine—a change Berdymukhamedov ordered reversed.

In recent years, however, satellite TV dishes have become widely popular, particularly in Ashgabat and other larger cities, giving more affluent Turkmen families access to Russian, Turkish and other foreign television.

Computers and computer gaming centers are not uncommon, but Internet access was limited to a very small proportion of the population; the country's main state university and several scientific organizations have Web access, but visitors had to register with administrators and could call up only officially approved Web sites. Some embassies with public libraries or resource centers, including the United States, allowed approved members of the Turkmen public unfettered access.

Richard A. Boucher, a U.S. assistant secretary of state who made an official visit to Turkmenistan Friday, said he discussed educational reforms with Berdymukhamedov.

``I heard a couple of Internet cafes opened here today,'' he later told reporters. ``It's a good indication of further change.''

Turkmenistan is important to both Russia and the West because of its enormous natural gas reserves and its status as a stable, neutral country bordering Iran and Afghanistan.

___

Associated Press Writer Mike Eckel contributed to this report from Moscow.

Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.



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