But others are enraged and argue vociferously with airport personnel (as in the video below, in Russian and Turkmen):

With estimated unemployment of around 50 percent, skyrocketing inflation, and shortages of consumer items including staples like bread, flour, eggs, and other dairy products, some people are leaving the country in search of better lives. In the end, some of us crossed the border to Uzbekistan, and some to Kazakhstan, and from there flew to Istanbul.”

The man added that there are people at the border who, for $300, promise to arrange transport to Uzbekistan or Kazakhstan. A group of Turkmen staged an impromptu protest on April 3 after they were prevented, without explanation, from boarding a plane to Istanbul amid a government campaign to keep people from leaving the country:





Written by Pete Baumgartner based on reporting by RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service
Turkmenistan bans the import of bikinis, shorts, and swimsuits.