Jakarta Globe, Anton
Lomov, August 6, 2013
Ashgabat. When Turkmen mother Selbi Dzhafarova wanted to buy a toy car for her son’s birthday, he burst into tears. “He asked us to buy him a computer instead,” she said.
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| Children use computers in a computer center in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. (AFP Photo) |
Ashgabat. When Turkmen mother Selbi Dzhafarova wanted to buy a toy car for her son’s birthday, he burst into tears. “He asked us to buy him a computer instead,” she said.
Her son
Arslan’s wish was hardly different from the wishes of young boys all over the
world except that the nine-year-old lives in the hermit ex-Soviet state of
Turkmenistan where Internet access for most private users was banned until just
a few years ago.
“We had to
do it,” Dzhafarova told AFP while shopping at a market in the capital Ashgabat.
Needing a computer “is already an everyday reality and not a child’s whim”, she
said.
Turkmenistan,
an energy-rich Central Asian nation bordering Afghanistan and Iran, was for two
decades ruled by dictator Saparmurat Niyazov, best remembered for his bizarre
personality cult complete with gold statues, his own philosophy book and deep
suspicion of cyberspace.
Under
Niyazov, who claimed that Western novelties were “foreign to the mentality of
our people,” only a handful of outlets like Western companies, several colleges
and hotels were connected to the Internet.
After his
death in 2007, the country has taken cautious steps to dismantle his legacy.
The first two Internet cafes opened in Ashgabat two days after the inauguration
of the new president, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.
Soon more
cyber cafes opened, each adorned with a portrait of the new leader, while
schools and universities started receiving computers.
On
September 1, children starting primary school across the country are set to
receive over 190,000 Lenovo netbook computers from the education ministry on
the president’s orders.
“Our
experience of conducting classes with the use of digital assistants has shown a
significant increase of our young citizens’ interest in studies,”
Berdymukhamedov said in televised remarks.
But for all
its purported readiness to embrace the digital age, the government is not
planning to loosen its tight grip over the Internet any time soon.
Access is
regulated by state firm TurkmenTelekom, which became a monopoly in 2000 when
several independent providers lost their licenses and the few Internet cafes in
existence shut up shop.
Getting
online is a pricey affair: the company charges nearly $7,000 (5,300 euros) per
month for unlimited Internet at a zippy 2,048 kilobytes per second.
By
comparison, GDP per capita in Turkmenistan is estimated by the US Central
Intelligence Agency’s latest World Factbook to be $8,900.
At the
country’s several dozen cyber cafes, visitors are required to show their
passports to use the Internet. An hour-long session costs 6 manats ($2.1).
Wifi is
only available at the few expensive hotels that usually cater to foreigners.
‘A ray of
light in darkness’
Like in
other authoritarian countries, the government in Turkmenistan controls the
Internet to keep a lid on dissent.
Reporters
without Borders’ annual list of the “Enemies of the Internet” regularly
features the country along with Iran, Syria and North Korea.
Websites of
opposition groups and critical media outlets are banned while popular social
media platforms like Twitter and Facebook are routinely blocked.
“At our
university, computers are connected to the Internet but they are all located in
one room and students browse the web under strict supervision from their
teachers,” said Aigul Yazkuliyeva, a 20-year-old student.
Passionate
web surfer Dovran said that despite the government efforts to control access to
cyberspace, there were ways to avoid censorship.
“Bans exist
so that we can get around them,” the 22-year-old told AFP with a smile.
“For me the
Internet is like a ray of light in the darkness,” said Dovran, who asked that
his last name not be published.
“The speed
may be low and the glitches constant, but I already cannot live without it.”
In
Turkmenistan, where the government controls nearly every bit of information,
there is no confirmed data on the current number of Internet users.
According
to estimates, several hundred thousand people have web access in the country of
some 6 million. By contrast, no more than 5,000 people enjoyed that luxury
under the late Niyazov.
Observers
say that the government will not be able to resist the growing popularity of
the Internet for much longer and expanding public web access will inevitably
lead to a more open society.
“Having
been given a candy, a man will want to eat it all and not just take a bite,” a
Western diplomat told AFP.
“You can
see progress: a large number of private Internet users have appeared and stores
are opening up selling computers, smartphones and iPads.
“I think it
will lead to a more open society but for that to happen more decisive steps
should be taken,” the diplomat said on condition of anonymity.
Many pin
their hopes on the plans to launch into orbit Turkmenistan’s first space
communications satellite in 2014.
An
agreement to that effect was signed between the country’s communications
ministry and Franco-Italian company Thales Alenia Space in 2011.
“The
existence of our own satellite will speed up the development of communication
networks, television and Internet,” said a communications ministry spokesman.
Agence France-Presse
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