Turkmenistan: the North Korea of Central Asia

[@roozbehkhodaverdian640]

As an Iranian, Turkmenistan is by far our most invisible neighbor. No news from them. No voice. No nothing. Only Turkmen we know was Niyazov. We read in elementary school they export gas and cotton. But that's about it. It's like being next to a beachless sea. Or a void.

[@frankwoods8102]

Exactly and only news that we have had from them was from their soccer national team 😂😂

[@ivanmatusic5540]

And when Iran says that it speaks volumes!

[@zakazany1945]

Well, there is a good reason for that.

[@bllwrwd8142]

Why would they bother teaching about a country that they can't push their evil policies on? Iran is too busy doing pointless shit in Syria and Lebanon right now

[@Noname-kq1mb]

In central asia we also don't know nothing about this country, like, the other 4 countries have close relations

[@troodon1096]

"No rights were ever violated in the country." Technically true; people's rights can't be violated when they don't have any.

[@КИМ-х5у]

А ты там был?

[@rq4740]

I know the comment was a joke, but this kind of thinking legit gave us the European slave trade

[@ivangordienko8081]

@@КИМ-х5у заткнись бот

[@КИМ-х5у]

@@ivangordienko8081 интересно ещё кто здесь бот

[@ivangordienko8081]

@@КИМ-х5у ты

[@MalikaBurievaAtabeg]

as an american uzbek-turkmen that was born & raised in the U.S., i like to learn more about the country that i’m half of. my dad, who’s turkmen, is the first generation of his family to be born outside of turkmenistan. he was born in samarkand, uzbekistan, so we both like to learn about turkmenistan together since we never had the chance to be exposed to the culture as we’re connected with uzbek culture more. thank you for making this video and educating a fellow turkmen like myself :)

[@carymnuhgibrilsamadalnasud1222]

I've seen your tiktoks before.

[@orangespark2340]

Hey i saw you in geography now! You and your dad :P

[@batuhanturgut4007]

nope. you shouldn't! thats a shit hole! ones get in as female , you cannot escape without loads of money and %50 chance they might arrest you before even plane land off.. stay safe in usa and never look back. search online and never plan to go there... there are too many people I have known around here and people of turmanistan are ready to sell their souls for new country and passport because it isn't easy to re-new your old password in short time and if so you done as said before chances of escaping is %50... good luck..

[@orangespark2340]

@@batuhanturgut4007 It's sad but it'll take a whole new government for turkmenistan to be accessible. That's a shame, because i wanna visit it. That said, at least she's learning something about her roots, which is commendable imho

[@skoylux]

​@Benjamin Do but, no turk culture in Türkmenistan. Heavy dominance of russian culture exists everywhere, only.

[@Tuppoo94]

I've met a Turkmen guy, and heard from him that back in the day the Turkmen government made natural gas free. However, apparently almost everything else remained expensive in the isolated country, and the combination created very strange market distortions and failures. For example, people would leave their gas stoves on 24/7, because it was cheaper than using matches to relight the fire.

[@rifqimujahid4907]

wow wtf cool story

[@wizzilegal]

Cool en sad story at the same time.

[@swidswid8389]

low iq governance.

[@Captain-Sum.Ting-Wong]

That was one of the few good things they had going for them. Water and electricity was also totally free for all citizens. They got rid of it a couple years ago after natural gas prices fell.

[@christiandauz3742]

Wish a Time-traveler Industrialize Bronze Age China Then Turkmenistan wouldn't exist

[@denispol79]

In Turkmenistan the following sentence makes perfect sense: In Turkmenbashi, Turkmenbashi returned to Turkmenbashi's Turkmenbashi on Turkmenbashi from Turkmenbashi Which means in January Niazov returned to Ashabad's Turkmenbashi hotel on Turkmenbashi street from Turkmenbashi airport .

[@saskiaviking9447]

Reminds me of the Alladeen words in The Dictator like "Sir it appears you are HIV Alladeen"

[@philip8498]

so an IRL aladeen? god really is a B-movie director...

[@cageybee7221]

literal aladeen

[@luisamorsolo2072]

😃😂😂😂😂. This is the man's man & im the cupcake.

[@InternacionalBoxing]

January is Turkmenbashi 😌🤣

[@morsine]

as an Iranian, we've learned and heard about a lot of countries. but Turkmenistan is a country we've only saw on our school textbooks. never heard anything about it, never saw anything of it. this video was recommended and it made me curious, and I thought, what is it like in Turkmenistan? a question I thought about a few times, but never took the time to search for an answer.

[@morsine]

now I know the answer, it's like Iran, but in an alternate universe. edit: also weirder than Iran

[@morsine]

12:30 that's an Iranian car, if I'm not mistaking

[@ozgurkaramanoglu1922]

what does it say about turkmenistan in your school textbooks

[@morsine]

@@ozgurkaramanoglu1922 "Turkmenistan is a country on the Northern east of Iran" That's literally all they've though us when we went to school. Edit: and what the other Persian guy said

[@mehmetyusufkaradeniz]

You should search about turkmens they controlled your whole country in past

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

While it is an honor to be compared to other nations, it is pretty clear no nation can be as supreme and Chad as the DPRK. No matter how many times he does donuts around a firepit

[@Jin_Sakai71]

Facts my brotha

[@duckerson812]

I dont like north korea

[@JuliusCeaser_]

You got that right comrade

[@alexanderishere6205]

@@duckerson812 heretic

[@sneersh9107]

@@Wash3D122 omg teehee this made my pussy quiver!!!

[@donquaviuslaquariusdinglen3066]

Fascinating country. I have a close friend who is Turkmen, and despite not living there now he has occasionally visited the place. I've gotten to hear all of the horrible stuff going on there, the lack of necessities etc. The people really deserve better, but it doesn't help that theyre essentially brainwashed from the birth.

[@antoniosdimoulas3566]

Unlike in the west which no brainwashing from young age it doesn’t take place. Like Hollywood and Disney with all that moral and ethical teachings, and happy endings of course!

[@tmajec]

@@antoniosdimoulas3566 🤣

[@andrewmckenzie292]

@@antoniosdimoulas3566 The difference is US/west have the wealth, leverage and have been far more successful than these isolated countries that by comparison to USA/west are not rich. I am sure the ultimate but futile goal of these regimes is to convince their people to convince themselves they live in the best countries in the world, such multi-dimensional propaganda/brainwashing is outside the resources/reach of these regimes

[@andrewmckenzie292]

@@싸넬동지-7성담배 No I cannot directly except to say the results basically speak for themselves, no past superpower in history has managed to manipulate enough people to believe they are really better off under that superpower's rule than the US has. Its a stroke of brilliance no doubt, but the imperfections of the system (no system is perfect) however are then better kept secret as to release/expose them would be to disrespect "freedom/democracy". Whatever faults there are however will ultimately be exposed and the superpower be bought to account just like all past superpowers in history, and the same with the next superpower...perhaps see me as just doing what Roman Emperors had done to them "all worldly glory is fleeting"...the USA may need reminding they are of this world also and not on a higher plain just as all superpowers of past did and all superpowers of future will also, despite their invariable attempts to fight that and that they are somehow special and effectively God on Earth.

[@chnb517]

What a useless mindset to have. Thats like saying the fall of empires is the same as natural disasters: it just happens. Okay, what does this actually mean in concrete actions we can take? Nothing. Its just a useless observation even if its true to some extenr

[@ngc4260]

My math teacher is Turkmen, he came to the US at age 15 (currently 27); when I ask him about it he speaks of the country fondly but doesn't go into to much detail

[@Unio-Mystica]

😆😆

[@JohnBaptist-n5s]

These videos are just propaganda. Turkmenistan is a rich country. They have largest reserves of natural gas in the world. Petrol and Gas they are free in Turkmenistan. Hospital care is free. The roads are clean. Architecture is cool. Every thing is great. No one's homeless. And everyone gets a salary from govt even if you are unemployed. What more could you want?

[@alexandrufasoleac627]

@@JohnBaptist-n5s hahahaahha, communism copium

[@jakeangichiodo1975]

It has CC in the settings of video next to where you adjust the quality

[@efendigibi]

@@JohnBaptist-n5s Ok, Serdar Berdimohammadov

[@ianmcquestionable4017]

Central Asia has always been super interesting to me as an overlooked part of the world, but Turkmenistan in particular has always fascinated me the most; how bizarre its government has been while simultaneously being unheard of in many places.

[@fredmurphy42]

The Ashgabat earthquake of 1948 was very underreported. Magnitude 7.3. Many casualties.

[@goodfortune4317]

Afghanistan took all the attention in central Asia.

[@mr.sinjin-smyth]

@@goodfortune4317 Don't forget Iran

[@goodfortune4317]

@@mr.sinjin-smyth Iran is in West Asia (politically called the "middle east")

[@mr.sinjin-smyth]

@@goodfortune4317 Yes, I'm just saying both Iran and Afghanistan take much of the world attention away from Turkmenistan, when it comes to both the Middle East and Central Asia affairs.

[@fatihakmese]

In Turkey our neighbour has a gardener who was a Turkmen illegal worker since both people are Turkic it was easy to understand each other and While i was curious about our ancient homeland i asked to him regarding Turkmenistan. One thing was really shocking, if you will travel during night time you need a permission from police. I mean if you like to visit your parents or friends, just to go there you need to inform authorities so they will know where you are every minute of the day. The gentlmen was thinking it is still ok but only problem for him about his country of unemployement so he was thinking he will save some money in Turkey and return back to Turkmenistan. He had more serious problems than money but he was not aware.

[@ZeeZee9]

Are you a Turkish person? If so, the genetic connection of Turkish people to Central Asia is quite low. It is mostly cultural and linguistic.

[@omerfaruk6082]

@Orbán Viktor Mihály Turul, is a Turkic word also, we call it Tuğrul in Turkey. A common male name, historic personalities like Sultan Tuğrul or Ertuğrul bey.

[@S.Solmazturk]

@@ZeeZee9 35-40% isn't low. 6-8% east asian isn't low.

[@ZeeZee9]

@@S.Solmazturk I have never seen 30-40 lol. You need to do better research. Most have less than 10%. And then you have to factor in that central Asian Turkics are mixed with iranics and even Arabs, and the % of East Asian Turkic is even lower.

[@S.Solmazturk]

@@ZeeZee9 If you look at east asian component you will find those numbers but Turkic people aren't east asian people but a mix. Even the most pure Oghuz or Kypçak Turk have around 25. That make sense because Turks dominated Central Asia and some parts of Siberia. Before the "Türk" word even existed our ancestors mixed with and assimilated other people so we can't be pure. Recent studies show us that modern Turks of Turkey are around 35-40% Turkic conquerors. Rest of the DNA comes from romanized/hellenized native Anatolians, native Caucasians, Slavs, Iranians, semites etc. In other words we are descendants of both conquerors and the Turkified people of Anatolia.

[@RostamBahadur]

I'm from Afghanistan, southern neighbor of Turkmenistan and literally never heard anything about Turkmenistan.

[@bigmanRC]

🥷 💥 💥

[@hrr597]

​@@bigmanRC 🤓🤓

[@RogerTheil]

That's absolutely wild to think about. As an American, I can go on all day about Canada and Mexico. It's true that they're very well known countries, but I know at least something about each island in the Carribean as well. It's fascinating to think of having a neighboring country you know nothing about, but I guess that shows you the state of the country.

[@lunar.enigma08]

I have a friend who lives in Turkmenistan. I'm not sure if she knows how corrupt the government is there, but I've never brought it up in case either of us get in trouble for it. I also did a report on Turkmenistan and learned lots of stuff about it. Very interesting.

[@ubaidarshad]

why would you think your friends is extremely stupid and doesn't understand corruption , who lives there and you know turkistan more by watch video on youtube .

[@Fatblue246]

how did you even meet someone from such an isolated place? Is she one of the few with internet?

[@lunar.enigma08]

@@Fatblue246 Yeah. I met her through Fandom, so there's no way she doesn't have internet.

[@Fatblue246]

@@lunar.enigma08 damn that’s crazy that’s super fuckin cool. unfortunate you can’t pick her brain about more specifics of the country and the like

[@itsnadaaaa]

We had a few kids from Turkmenistan in an online exchange program that I did. The urge to ask them whats really going on in Turkmenistan was tempting, but I didn't want to risk getting them in trouble. But they were all very nice and humble people who spoke surprisingly good english. Definitely more upperclass/elite connected Turkmens.

[@Alex-zr4yl]

Thanks for yet another great historical video. I hope this channel grows as the Italian one. You totally deserve it.

[@specterlux3934]

Which italian one?

[@Alex-zr4yl]

@@specterlux3934 this guy is a star in Italy. He runs an established channel with hundreds of thousands subscribers and he’s now starting international operations.

[@specterlux3934]

@@Alex-zr4yl i see :)

[@Marco-hq6hn]

@@specterlux3934 he's a Legend here in Italy, he has over 68m views in his main Channel👍

[@tavvviaiavia]

@@Alex-zr4yl whats his channel

[@adlikanahau6763]

Thank you very much for discussing my country, whether it's in a positive or negative way, this video is very good for introducing my quiet country to the whole world 🇹🇲🇹🇲🇹🇲

[@amanparashar10]

Do you have internet?

[@beaucaspar3990]

Do you still live in Turkmenistan? I wouldn’t of thought you guys would have access to the internet

[@SonaIgdiri]

@@amanparashar10 We do have internet I'm from Türkmenistan

[@amanparashar10]

@@SonaIgdiri only 1% of population have access to internet?

[@amanparashar10]

@@SonaIgdiri Drew Binsky told in his videos about 1% population have access to internet

[@andarara-c1p]

-Niyazov forbids having dogs because they smell and is pro-western. - He owns a frigging dog and builds a golden statue of him.

[@rebornpheonix1016]

His successor actually.

[@burakcetav]

As a Turk from Turkey. The state of Turkemenistan saddens me deeply.

[@b.cdrisk2035]

Do you support Erdogan?

[@dominictoretto9645]

@@b.cdrisk2035 who doesn’t

[@Nahasapasa]

@@dominictoretto9645 Secularists

[@silver4809]

@@dominictoretto9645 is that sarcasm?

[@SHAHIDKC]

Erdogan

[@dorque1030]

As a south korean, I think the metaphor of the north korea of central asia is too insultant to people in Turkmenistan. At least there are no massive starvation and nuclear weapons in Turkmenistan.

[@Unio-Mystica]

Yes 😉

[@ahal_gokdepe]

agree. its not as bad as north Korea. and we actually try to maintain peaceful relationships with our neighbors .

[@malgusvitiate7002]

Same with Eritrea and Afghanistan. Those three countries may be totalitarian, but at least they don’t prevent people from emigrating, have mass starvation, or threaten other countries with WMDs. When it comes to current totalitarian nations, North Korea takes the cake as being the worst of the worst.

[@RogerTheil]

​@@malgusvitiate7002I think Eritrea does forbid emigration, but I could be mistaking it with one of its neighbors. I agree though, Turkmenistan doesn't seem that much like North Korea other than certain government policies and its isolation, and life there seems muuuch better than in NK. It gets compared to NK because of that isolation, though, and to Westerners, anything that isn't a democracy generally sounds "authoritarian" to us, so we associate it with NK. Quite an ignorant perspective I'll admit, but most American education about non-democratic goverments is veeeeeery poor, so it's to be expected that we think they're all pretty much the same.

[@krekouzas]

I visited the country back in 2018! I remember that our first try for a VISA for the country was rejected because in our photos for the application we had beard!!! When we tried again for a new VISA with new photos, fresh shaved, out VISA was approved!!! Strange country and very very interesting. But we felt safe, and it was fun to be there and experience many of the details that you said in the video!!!

[@robertbobbypelletreaujr2173]

Turkmenistan customs officer: "this is *not* Sparta!"

[@chessmanzender7530]

everyone with beard is viewed as terrorist. And laws aren't written but spoken

[@MilanILoveU]

This is because the Central Asian countries are perennially threatened by Islamic fundamentalism. Under the influence of the Soviet Union, Central Asian countries gradually developed into secular countries with separation of political and religion, just like the Kemal Ataturk Revolution in Turkey. But there are still some Islamic fundamentalists who want to build an Islamic state where the state and religion are integrated, like Saudi Arabia or now Afghanistan. In the wake of last year's events in Afghanistan, the Central Asian countries are tense. So your beard has been noticed by the customs of Turkmenistan, because they have to deal with religious extremism with more sensitive nerves, because these people are influenced by extremism and distort the true concept of Islam. I have been to Tajikistan, where the government even allows the theory that Tajiks are noble Aryans, and there will be Nazi symbols, and traces of racial supremacy, because they want to find another way of thinking to replace the new Religious extremism among a generation of young people. There are organizations such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and the Islamic Baath Party of Tajikistan, which advocate the abolition of the principle of separation of state and religion currently practiced in Central Asian countries and the establishment of a caliphate state.

[@MilanILoveU]

In short, our world is really complicated. Our world is too big. So no matter what problem you encounter, it is best to explain it in a reasonable way and understand it. Just like many European countries now have similar prohibition policies when dealing with religious extremism

[@KK-eu6ym]

@Andrew_koala 🤣🤣🤣🤣 really!? You speak English yeah 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@ZeroForce96]

You said the Karakum desert almost makes up 90% of the country’s land, but the visual representation looks like only about 60%. Other than that, great video! Keep it up.

[@whurdoondees]

I was thinking the same, even closer to 40% on the map representation

[@Boretheory]

He has an issue with numbers it’s common for him to make errors about proportions and put advertisements with the correction

[@ZeroForce96]

@@Boretheory I have dyscalculia myself, so I can relate lol.

[@D-Vinko]

@@Boretheory It occupies 70%, not 90% of the total country's land.

[@freddymars2014]

I too was triggered by this...

[@seni4164]

My mum is Turkmen. She moved to England in 2000, but her mum, her sister, and her sister’s family still lived there. A few years ago (before the war) she moved to Russia. Because the government would monitor communications, during my grandma’s move, she and my mum would talk in code words, like ‘books’ instead of ‘money’. I have no more family living in Turkmenistan now and my mum doesn’t like to talk about it. I’m not sure she grew up in absolute poverty, but definitely poverty compared to the UK. Every now and then she will cook a Turkmen traditional dish for me or teach me a traditional dance, but a lot of the time she just calls herself English and when I tell her I want to learn more about my Turkmen connection, she just says I’m English lol

[@pierre9061]

thats kinda sad

[@BlackRozu__]

People heal with time man hopefully one day you’ll be connected to your roots. But like holy hell man thats sad i pray for that woman

[@seni4164]

@@BlackRozu__ Yh it’s kinda deep but she’s happy

[@mrgreatbritain]

I’m proud she feels connected to us Brits moreso than her origins!

[@seni4164]

@@mrgreatbritain thank you mr Great Britain

[@NomadShifu]

Known for its autocratic government and large gas reserves, Turkmenistan also has a reputation as an island of stability in restive Central Asia. Despite its gas wealth, much of Turkmenistan's population is still impoverished.

[@dyttrich]

Better live like this than islam radicals

[@ZeeZee9]

We Afghans are jealous of Central Asian countries, even though they are poor :(

[@ZeeZee9]

@@dyttrich agree. Islamic radicalism ruined Afghanistan :((

[@kevinaguilar7541]

@@ZeeZee9 I appreciate you adding the word radicalism and not just solely Islam ruining afghanistan

[@ZeeZee9]

@@kevinaguilar7541 yeah I am Muslim. I know the difference :(

[@gabeitch3542]

I always found the name of this country to be hilarious because in Swedish it literally translates to ”Turkish Men In The Town”

[@Channel-gk2zn]

😂

[@rorychivers8769]

@@herneyse11 Turkmenistan You have to know Swedish to read it though

[@gloomy9100]

I didn't even think or that hahahaha

[@gutydanx]

@@herneyse11 Turkiska män i stan

[@draskodrasko2519]

Probably means exactly that

[@galladesamurai2380]

It's interesting that Ashgabat is like the world's biggest ghost town and the most lavish city in probably the entire world while everyone else is living in huts in the desert in poverty, this is why I love learning about stuff like this, it's interesting and fascinating and sometimes a little too bizzar to be real, yet it is)

[@Gertieness]

Yes, it is basically a smaller version of Russia, it's show cities and the rest, which is third world.

[@arthas640]

Potemkin village taken to a logical extreme, kind of like Pyongyang.

[@lipton5428]

Around a million live in Ashgbat, the others are spread across several other smaller developing cities in different regions. It’s not like it’s empty, when its 45 degrees Celsius outside I think most residents stay indoors 😂

[@Kimberlytheresam]

It's sad that leaders get away with thus nonsense.

[@MJ-uk6lu]

Feels like troll run of Simcity

[@2econd428]

I’m a Turkmen who grew up there, and just wanted to note that while yes Russian alphabet was not official anymore, we didn’t start using an Arabic like alphabet. Our alphabet looks almost like English with only a few differences. I was born right after turkmenbashy niyazov became president. My parents still struggle writing in modern Turkmen and prefer Russian instead.

[@vascomanteigas9433]

You mean Latin alphabet ?

[@limitess9539]

How do you survive on 20 euros a month? How would an old person in pension survive without kids on his miserable pension?

[@2econd428]

@Cinnamon Lover sheytdimay dos, geñ galdyñmy? lol

[@Miraihi]

@@limitess9539 From what I know, central Asian republics, including Turkmenistan, have a robust welfare system that covers all essentials. The main problem is that all the imported goods are crazy expensive.

[@nabscovers1005]

With all due respect, i dont think language preferences is the main problem here is it

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

While we may all hate going to the dentist and view it as a living nightmare, next time you go just be thankful your dentist didn't become a dictator like Turkmenistan's has But hey, I respect them flag wise for having the guts to put different carpet patterns to represent the tribes of the country. Definitely the most elaborate flag I've seen

[@sneersh9107]

bruh i see you on goherping vids

[@uncleobscurenobody8861]

What the hell are you even talking about??

[@miked2543]

They do have a beautiful flag.

[@shining_zvezdy]

Their flag is one of the WORST FLAGS I have ever seen

[@patlov]

i see you everywhere please go outside

[@djsonicc]

People: *starving * Communist leaders: Give them more statues!

[@cantdecide6598]

Big props for the quality of the video AND putting your sources in the description. Really apreciatte that

[@jaskapenttila7644]

The new Turkmen leader is not only a weight lifter but also a musician and a rally driver.

[@rolygecenmarkii3.028]

Yeah man he is a Turkmenator as well

[@kovnqwer]

He was also a dentist for the first president

[@mysoncrumphaseveryinjury3853]

What if Steven Seagal was elected president.

[@AwesomeSauce81]

Don't forget....Whack Job!

[@megapangolin1093]

Bet he always comes first in competitions too...

[@williammercer4311]

I worked in Asgabat Turkmenistan 4 yrs ago for 3 months, its worse than North Korea ,we had a driver to take us everywhere and to work at the Airport, security was intense ,chaperoned round the city,no photography allowed, secret police everywhere,cameras watching us, 11pm curfew everynight,The Airport is spectacular $3 billion to build it, full of soldiers and police,everytime we arrived there or took off to leave international departure lounge ,there was only me and my workmate ever in there,all beautiful shops open and staffed,but nobody in them, very bizzar place,we was only allowed in with an invitation from the president. I could talk forever about this country, hardly anyone comes in and its own people cant get out.

[@LeadLeftLeon]

I was going to say it’s the North Korea of Central Asia

[@madison.w8615]

People are starving to death in North Korea, its citizens have to bribe police officials to escape the country, saying something against Kim Jong Un or the communist party is punishable by death, the government sends its prisoners to work camps with a high death rate, and they hold public executions. How is Turkmenistan worse than North Korea?

[@RaoulWB]

I can't wait to see this channel grow to become amonf the top geopolitical ones. I'm so glad I can now share your videos with non-Italian friends

[@petersmythe6462]

I would say the difference here is that North Korea is looking forward. Turkmenistan is looking backward. Right, if you look at the state ideologies of these two countries, they are not particularly similar. And of course the situation regarding minorities is totally different.

[@jalenthomas4836]

And you can get out of Turkmenistan

[@kaiserbissau]

@@jalenthomas4836 u can too in North Korea.

[@kayzeaza]

North Korea doesn’t have an minorities, they all Korean. Plus I would not say North Korea is ‘looking forward’

[@GoodlyPenguin]

@@kayzeaza The only reason why North Korea would look forward is because South Korea is always ahead of them

[@justinadams7824]

@@kayzeaza I think this man is confused 🤔

[@shaneemanuelle6243]

I cycled across Turkmenistan in July 2014, entering near Turkmenabat and leaving at Sarakhs on a transit visa. Only there for three days. Tough to get a good survey of the country or the people, but did talk with quite a few locals. Shared plov and watermelon with people, visited ancient Merv, went to bazaar in Turkmenabat, slept open on sand in desert, talked with police. Very hot; each day there got to 47 C. Very flat; only hills were bridges over canals. Nice to get to Iran, though.

[@ayszhang]

8:08 This is not rly a big deal imo. The "old" Turkmen names were just Russian names. It is a bit narcissistic to put himself there though lol. But on the other hand, just because it's official doesn't mean people will actually use it. Idk the linguistic situation in Turkmen, but in KZ very few people use the current official Kazakh names of the months. The Turks in Central Asia never had a strong idea of 12 months in a year

[@kaihtheloner]

Hiya, dunno if you read the comments but I just found your channel today and loved this informative piece on Turkmenistan. A small request - Could you please add English subtitles to your videos? Don't get me wrong, I'm a non-native English speaker from Asia and just understanding English is hard enough for me. Though I'm not claiming to speak for the vast majority of non-native English speakers from Asia, I would appreicate it if your video could have subtitles (or closed captions, I guess they're called?). Thank you

[@mehrcat1]

Beneath the screen, on the right side, there are 3 dots in a line, beside the SAVE button. When you click on the 3 dots you'll see Report and Show Transcript. Click on SHOW TRANSCRIPT and the script will appear on the right side of the screen. It's not the same as subtitles but maybe it'll help you.

[@stevendimmock4791]

A very good video. Well written, well presented and on a subject that I find fascinating. I hope the country can get over all it's problems and realise it's true potential for it's citizens.

[@pinguofthehill7635]

Ahh, a revision of a classic! Do always like this, take the best and the most popular videos of the Italian channel, change them, make them a bit better when needed and then release them on the international channel, in order make the best videos and make grow the channel from its very beginning!

[@sabersroommate8293]

Link?

[@pinguofthehill7635]

@@sabersroommate8293 Link of the original video?

[@conzmoleman]

@@pinguofthehill7635 yes, the italian one, please

[@pinguofthehill7635]

@@conzmoleman kzbin.info/www/bejne/kJiqZ39mg7imsMU

[@tylko4170]

@@sabersroommate8293 kzbin.info/www/bejne/kJiqZ39mg7imsMU

[@latexrope1358]

I had heard little bits of Niyazov's insanity in news and panel shows, bit didn't know much more about the country. Thanks for a well made, factual and entertaining video.

[@jenniferbenzie6594]

Thank you so much for making this video!! I love finding out about countries and Turkmenistan has never been taught to me at any stage during my education

[@me0101001000]

The reason I know a decent amount about Turkmenistan is because of John Oliver, and my high school geography teacher. And now I know a bit more thanks to you!

[@patrickbuehlmann7257]

Your profile pic is ⚫ =no no

[@acreativeeccentric.9312]

@@patrickbuehlmann7257 what are you on about.

[@WyattSaidThat]

He might be racist

[@thewolf2213]

Will you focus on creating new videos or translating past ones? Or both?

[@novalectiointernational]

For now I'm only translating them. Priority with new videos is still on the Italian channel and all my efforts need to go there

[@Nome_utente_generico]

@@novalectiointernational Bravo. Priorizza noi!

[@TheKitMurkit]

@@novalectiointernational you could also fix the error on 8:35 with the Ukrainian Crimea border. It is under the Russian occupation, but it's not a part of it

[@SK-le1gm]

Thanks

[@Siddharth-Srivastava]

If you keep making videos like this, it will raise voice within international community that is internet!!

[@dcinput7645]

Always been fascinating with Turkmenistan, such detailed video.

[@mrgreatbritain]

Great video! I knew about Turkmenistan’s very closed society and limited freedom but now I see a much more detailed reason to why they are like this. It seems that where a lot of post Soviet regions have emerged, these have gone awry with independence

[@mykie3158]

It's odd but very interesting that this topic is not widely discussed or mentioned in the international stage, seeing that the western world pushes for democracy and liberalization, thanks alot for covering this topic, because now I'm grateful that i live in Syria and not Turkmenistan All jokes aside i hope for a future where Turkmens are happy in their country.

[@christchaik8317]

Syrian people are hard to control. For any dictatorship to survive, it has to always give something back to the people.

[@a.a.6789]

Meh the as*d family still treat the country like their property and basically teach from a young age to worship his comradeness, the videos coming out from some schools are insane, I hope Syria won't witness his son taking over.

[@a.a.6789]

@@christchaik8317 All people are hard to control, these poor people were simply even more beaten down and surrounded by other dictatorships that will protect the status quo no matter what so they don't get overthrown, like the uae s*udi sabotaging the uprisings in 2011 but all of their times will come and (hopefully) democracy will take hold and every single country won't be either a US or Iranian colony...

[@mykie3158]

@@a.a.6789 Even worse, in late 2019 when Aleppo was liberated from terrorist organizations the SAA looted the homes what were in the battle field, I'd witnessed trucks full of loot being carried infront of the public, not even the floor remained and I'm not even exaggerating, it goes to show that countries and governments come and go but the people remain, and it's only they suffer the consequences.

[@mykie3158]

@@christchaik8317 it's only natural to appear hard to control because we've been subjugated for thousands of years and still are, I'd even say that the public could've been more violent in the span of the crisis had there not been extensive propaganda set up since the 70's, so no i think hard to control isn't the right word but the right is we're so fed up and we want a change of pace for once.

[@bobanddave2008]

Very cool video guy, really like your style and delivery. Keep up the good work!

[@DailyKansasNews]

Fun Fact: The dot in Kazakh land is actually Russian land. It was leased to Russia as Baikonur. It was used as testing and launching place for space rockets.

[@shark753ac7]

Ciao Simone, grande qualità del video anche in inglese. Se posso permettermi di darti un consiglio, io fossi in te aggiungerei i sottotitoli in inglese nei tuoi video sul canale in Italiano una volta raggiunto un certo numero di iscritti anche qui, così da "raddoppiare" i contenuti per gli stranieri.

[@michelepetrocchi]

Io comincierei ad aggiungerli comunque. Potrebbe essere un modo per aumentare gli iscritti su questo canale.

[@momimio]

Se non sbaglio c’è la possibilità di abilitare i sottotitoli automatici in inglese. Sono abbastanza precisi e comprensibili.

[@roadofnaples]

credo che il suo obiettivo sia quello di tradurre completamente i vecchi video dall'italiano e ripostarli qui (quindi con anche le grafiche e la voce tradotta),i sottotitoli sul canale italiano perderebbero di senso

[@ilpatriota8241]

In reltà sarebbe corretto mettere i sottotitoli in inglese nel canale anglofono e i sottotitoli in italiano (ma anche in inglese e nelle prcinipali lingue) in quello italiano (che è quello principale) ... perchè i sottotitoli di solito si mettono anche per le tantissime persone sorde che ci sono oltre che per chi non conosce una certa lingua

[@darrelwibowo8406]

I just found your channel recently and i instantly liked it. Theres so much history that I didnt learn in school so its always interesting to learn this kind of history.

[@magicknight13]

What an excellent video! You rock! Thank you

[@Tiziano75775]

Now I can say that I follow this channel since it was called Nova Lercio ❤

[@giovannipetrosillo8237]

Sei un nuovo arrivato io ricordo ancora gli scazzoni di Rome ahahahha

[@Tiziano75775]

@@giovannipetrosillo8237 tu parli del canale principale, questo è sempre stato il secondario ahahah

[@giovannipetrosillo8237]

@@Tiziano75775 a beh si ovvio.

[@Tiziano75775]

@@giovannipetrosillo8237 il principale lo seguo anche io da quanto era scazzoni di rome, ma probabilmente chi parla solo inglese non lo conosce nemmeno ahah

[@RyanPelle]

Hi - I’ve just discovered your channel and I really love your maps. Can I ask where you got them from and what software you use for editing them? Thanks:)

[@ahmetg6452]

I am Turkish , who is living abroad over 3 decades. In recent years , I ve met some Turkmen fellows, who for various reasons have achieved to go abroad. They are really in a very bad condition. They can not return back , because they say, if they go back , they will not be able to get out of the country , but also can not apply for asylium in their respective settlement countries , with the fear of bad things happining to their remaining family members in the hands of crual government officials . It is heartbreaking really.

[@Aaron-8989]

This country is soo underrated tbh

[@vasandasdevic.nadason]

Thank you for the other end of the world story. Please do share the neighbouring countries. Something different for once. Thank you once again. 🇸🇬🙏🏼

[@ajarofmayonnaise3250]

@Y K lol who are you?

[@Jawhead1991]

Ummm it means that he is from indonesia. It is like saying greetings FROM singaphore.

[@Jawhead1991]

@Y K my bad I meant indonesia yeah.

[@youreboichips3872]

@Y K heh he's Singaporean?

[@youreboichips3872]

@Y K idk what your talking about lol

[@levitatingoctahedron922]

4:00 silly when people act like a private sector is an inherent good when we have places like the US where the government has been bought out entirely by corporations.

[@thelovertunisia]

Hi greetings from Tunisia. As an Italian, you know as well as I do that here in the Mediterranean world, politics have always been special too!

[@Liitebulb]

"Special" = almost a lost cause. In most of the most beautiful countries politics is unreliable. Italy, Greece, Spain, half the African continent...

[@thelovertunisia]

@@Liitebulb Yes because people believe in the adage :rules are made to be broken.

[@abbabubba]

Thanks.Learned many things about Turkmenistan today!

[@thorsvenson3530]

There is a theory that suggests that abundance of natural resources enables dictatorships, because a ruler who gains control of these resources can rule the country using the acquired wealth and does not need to rely on developing the society. There is much truth to this theory, but also Norway exists, so clearly it is only part of the story and local culture plays a dominant role. Anyways thank you for making this video about a very interesting but indeed forgotten country.

[@ALIENIEMPIRETV]

Viva Turkmenbashi e Novalandia, il tuo fedele suddito.

[@David-zx8fc]

Wat

[@lucabralia5125]

@@David-zx8fc italian channel joke

[@Andrew-df1dr]

One major difference between Turkmenistan and North Korea is that Turkmenistan has abolished the death penalty, where as it still exists in North Korea.

[@kenprobably4030]

That doesnt make it any better

[@Andrew-df1dr]

@@kenprobably4030 Yes it does. It means that people are not being killed by the government. Do you honestly trust the judicial system of North Korea to be fair and impartial and never send innocent people to be executed?

[@imserdar]

@@Andrew-df1dr I really didn’t want to shatter your beliefs but as a Turkmen from Turkmenistan I have to say that the government kills thousands of people every year.

[@Andrew-df1dr]

@@imserdar That's unfortunate and not surprising. Do many people flee the county? If so, how difficult is it for them? I gather there would be quite a community in Russia.

[@imserdar]

@@Andrew-df1dr There is a large community in Turkey. Russia not so much since the citizens need a visa to enter Russia. USA has a large community as well.

[@longliveavalon]

Hehe nice channel fratello! And what a beautiful flag😲🇹🇲

[@khaiophirgrad7717]

Turkmenistan: The North Korea of Central Asia....hmmmm...sounded very unique, annoying and ideal combination at the same time....🙌🙌

[@davidpetersen6694]

Nice channel. I will enjoy watching your very interesting ideas on each country. Congratulations on 500k on your Italian Channel!

[@novalectiointernational]

Thank you, David!

[@cpt999]

"But he is not a Pornstar!" that had me laughing 🤣 🤣 🤣

[@magicknight13]

Same here 😂

[@Fd.777]

Buona fortuna con questo canale Simone hai fatto anche qua un lavoro di qualità ;)

[@roadofnaples]

Hi, congrats for the really interesting video! I watched it in italian 1 year ago,but this version in english is enjoyable too,i hope that this channel can be successful like the italian one,buona fortuna SImone,da un tuo fan italiano che spera un giorno di vivere a Novalandia

[@sarahthomas2922]

4:50-5 shame on you for unnecessarily putting that in.......my volume was high and its such an irrelevant clip that shows how flippantly you think of the topic.

[@randomexcessmemories4452]

Fascinating! This is more than I ever knew about Turkmenistan, and I enjoyed the video very much! One question: What is that small circle inside Kazakhstan which remained un-highlighted whenever you showed that country? Is it some sort of separatist area?

[@jeffreyvandenbrink9835]

I assume it concerns Baikonur: a small territory with the spacedrome of Baikonur on it in Southern Kazakhstan that is leased to Russia.

[@jasonj1161]

Totally learned from this video! Taught me something I didn't know as a history buff soooo thanks

[@gee8883]

1.Bash= head Turkmenbashy= head of Turkmen Ata= father Atatürk = father of Turks 2. Turkmen alphabet changed into Latin alphabet not into Persoarabic 3. 67% of the land is desert not 90% There are too many mistakes and some photoes u show are from Afganistan not Türkmenistan. Plz remake the video if u can .

[@kimkardashiansdaddy2744]

i just gave this video a ''dislike'' because of the photos from afghan people

[@qwertyguy12345]

Fantastic video, and well presented - thanks!

[@simongray8019]

British Airways operated a route there back in the 90's, very strange country. We stopped over for 3 or 4 days at a time, we really were the only Europeans there. Wherever we went people just stared at us

[@divingindeepspace5429]

Can you talk more about your experience

[@gmcmurr15]

This man is the real life version of the movie The Dictator, changing the meaning of all these words and substituting most with his title, crazy.

[@yourmum69_420]

You know the dictator was based on North Korea which is also a real place, right?

[@gmcmurr15]

@@yourmum69_420 really?? No shit lol

[@UnknownUser-yu9rp]

It wasn't as scary during Türkmenbaşı as it is now during Arkadag where Arka is the back or behind and dag is a mountain so he is like a mountain behind you (Arkadag sounds like as if he is gonna back you up whenever you're in trouble) . Current president's so cruel and evil that the one before him seemed like an angel. First megalomaniac was not imposing new laws, rules on us as much as the current one. I mean new laws didn't affect us so much so we didn't even care of it . We did not think of the country in bad sense because we could carry on . Nowadays it's impossible to live your life there simply because one can't feed one's family anymore.

[@so-tk7eh]

Serdar is going to impress you more

[@ahumanistpotato]

Still sad that Kakageldi didn't win lmao, I'd vote for him just because of his name Yeah I know, the result was predetermined, but look at that name, man!

[@vincentwong5664]

Lived in Ashgabat from 2010 to 2016... really great experience

[@jurajgregus-kohut263]

Can you tell more about your experience please?

[@xalpacazeu1332]

Well you lived in the capitol which has almost anything.

[@disneymore7941]

Of course you loved it. You lived in the capital the richest part of the country, and you're a foreigner and not a Turkmen

[@katiemooree]

At my college, a woman from Turkmenistan came here. She is so sweet and endearing, however her mother works for the government. Her life is (im sure of) so much better than the rest of the country. I love her, and she is amazing, but I know she is seeing a different story than the rest of her culture. I learned about her life from my international clubs, and she saw her politics as a democracy. Watching this video, I am not shocked that she is very wrong. My hope is that she truly does know that her country is suffering, but hides it. I love Turkmenistan, but the government, along with many others in the world is unbearable.

[@d3_2009]

11:33 Niyazov: Ew dogs are smelly ban them Also Niyazov: Builds a giant golden statue of his own dog

[@astrohaterade]

You have exquisite taste in pop culture references, sir. Thank you for this informative video.

[@GardaOrban]

I am the iranian Turkmenbashi as well Turkmenistan is by favor our most invisible neighbor. I never heard of news from them. No The country's capital Ashghabad i. No nothing. When Ibn Fahlan traveled to Turkmen we know was Niyazov. Very happy you've transitioned to I had a Turkmen friend in Turkey and your culture, language, warm people just for a more broad audience. Just subscribed and look forward to future videos! But that's about it. It's like being next to a sealess bithcy.

[@learneternal-english3417]

what is that dot you keep highlighting on the map in kazakhstan? 2:28

[@suleymansuleymanov5599]

as a Turkmen in Turkmenistan, interesting to watch😀

[@smallbeginning2]

What do you think?

[@suleymansuleymanov5599]

@@smallbeginning2 its destroying us, no chance to revolt whatsoever as social media and social networks are under government 100%, and the dictator is backed by russian and chinese intelligence

[@kaidoust4145]

You guys got cool hats

[@harolddburke4726]

I think programs like this video will help people learn more about Turkmenistan . Then it will be more open to the world and economic improvement . I can see the leaders point of calling all the people one people united. That is one good thing the man accomplished for his people. With more schools and Civil Liberties the Nation can experience a new birth.

[@jraymond1988]

I read somewhere that Turkmenistan was the 2nd most depressed country, after of course North Korea.

[@jsyfrisco3157]

Thanks for this insight, I think his days are numbered. After Kazakhstan uprising they are next

[@NovajaPravda]

Kazakhstan is way more free compared to Turkmenistan, you can't compare the two. Turkmen go to Kazakhstan to enjoy the freedom there. In Kazakhstan, usually they don't restrict your daily activities much and you can criticise the government as long as they don't get to the level of the recent protest. Like when they resort to violence and attack government buildings. Also they wouldn't restrict tourist and have this weird cult of personality shit going on. There are also a political opposition in Kazakhstan. The reality is that, Turkmenistan probably don't even know that there is a protest going on in Kazakhstan because they don't have Internet there.

[@jsyfrisco3157]

Same mafia system, security watching citizens everywhere and only the connected few robbing national wealth. Russia is same that is why Putin send troops to put down the movement 8n Kazakhstan

[@sdgdrfzhr435]

@@NovajaPravda hey I think I know you from Instagram😂

[@Unio-Mystica]

😁😁

[@Unio-Mystica]

@@sdgdrfzhr435 😆😆

[@1Maklak]

Definitely the inspiration for Borat and "The Great Dictator" films.

[@MrGiygas1]

Borat is a Kazakhstani

[@saulgoodmanKAZAKH]

Tha Dictator is mostly Gaddafi

[@Jack-he8jv]

@@saulgoodmanKAZAKH but most arabs/africans loved gaddafi, he was a symbol of progress and a huge proponent of unification. do westerners really think hes some kind of despot? if so, then the refugee crisis which is directly caused by hes assassination is well deserved karma.

[@christianriddler5063]

@@Jack-he8jv No such thing as karma, Jesus Christ is all that matters. Anyways, Ghadaffi was killed because he did not want to submit to the international banking system. If the global elite cannot control you then they will destroy you.

[@lemagnifique1573]

@@saulgoodmanKAZAKH the Dictator is mixed between Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, and Osama bin Laden

[@hermannrudas]

I live in South America, very far away from this country, but I found really interesting not only the info you've shared but the way in which you did it. Thank you so much.

[@rolygecenmarkii3.028]

My man Im shocked! You know my country better than me. But im waiting for the next video where is our next Turkmenator. He is a terminator, he is a number one singer, he is a drifter, sniper, rally driver, automechannic, guitarist, rapper, Dj, horse racer, baskeball player, bycycle champion, saver of the earth etc. In every field he is a number one. Turkmenistan.

[@saudgulzarahmad3239]

🥵😂🤣

[@beyondthestars4299]

I like him

[@jety1989]

Grammaticalmente molto corretto! Manca l'accento anglofono e ci siamo 😎👍🏻

[@miafora7308]

Informative video. My favourite part was hearing you say “Turkmenbashi” in the Italian accent👍

[@jfygt2623]

Niyazov should have also changed the word "Positive" and "Negative" to "Niyazov" and "Niyazov".

[@loonytricky]

This is awesome. Good job!

[@marcellof87]

Ottima scelta di raccontare il tuo sapere in inglese, mitico!!!

[@Lebensfreude]

Very informative! Thank you!

[@jemifebriansyah4851]

Ustad ebit memang lembut hatinya Semoga saya di karuniai olh ALLAH hati dan kelebihan sprti beliau

[@isaacroansison2539]

Turkmenistan: A kid-friendly North Korea.

[@pixydust4112]

@@lusvus5445 exactly

[@glenngilbert7389]

This is a well presented and succinct report by an excellent narrator/presenter. I've never seen him before but he presents extremely well. I'd be interested to know his background

[@deborahlagarde7182]

Thanks! Love seeing vids about nations I know nothing about to learn about them. Hopefully you do the rest of the "stans" (but I've seen vids about Afghanistan history---now THATS an interesting country!)

[@markusmitteregger8484]

Very underrated video, why does it have only 30k views?

[@shrimpshrubbery7664]

Because when you commented this it has only been up for a few days... duh.

[@DrakeHunter324]

Well, that showed you......1 mil and rising.

[@markusmitteregger8484]

@@DrakeHunter324 I was here before 1 million!!!!

[@bradsillasen1972]

Far too often in history, the fate of millions is determined by the selfish ambitions of just one man.