© AP Photo/Alexander Vershinin
In this Friday, April 7, 2017 photo Turkmen President Gurbanguly
Berdymukhamedov attends the opening ceremony of a new sports
complex at the new tourist zone of Awaza on the Caspian Sea in
Turkmenistan.
Coronavirus?
What's a coronavirus?
Turkmenistan's
authoritarian government has banned all uses of the word
"coronavirus" from public discourse in a bizarre attempt
to control any mention of the COVID-19
disease.
State-controlled
media have been ordered not to use the word and police are
arresting citizens who say "coronavirus" or wear face
masks in public, according to Reporters
Without Borders
(RSF), an international NGO dedicated to promoting free speech.
RSF
cites the Turkmenistan Chronicle, one of the country's "few
sources of independent news," in its reporting. The Chronicle
published
a story
earlier this month showing that "coronavirus" has been
removed from all state Ministry of Health pamphlets.
“The
Turkmen authorities have lived up to their reputation by adopting
this extreme method for eradicating all information about the
coronavirus,” said Jeanne Cavelier, head of RSF’s Eastern
Europe and Central Asia desk, in a statement.
“This
denial of information not only endangers the Turkmen citizens most
at risk but also reinforces the authoritarianism imposed by
President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov. We urge the international
community to react and to take him to task for his systematic human
rights violations.”
Turkmenistan
is a closed-off nation of about 5.8 million people bordering on
Iran.
Its
leader, President Berdymukhamedov, is a strongman in the same vein
as ally Russian President Vladimir
Putin.
The former dentist loves riding horses, writing
books about tea,
and driving fast cars.
He
also presides over a "black hole" of public information,
according to RSF.
The
RSF says Turkmenistan is the worst
country in the world
for press freedom, behind even North
Korea.
Berdymukhamedov also has a "dire human rights record" for
brutally punishing "all unauthorized forms of religious and
political expression," according to a Human
Rights Watch
(HRW) report published earlier this month.
"There
is a total absence of media freedom in Turkmenistan," the HRW
report says.
In
the absence of science or certain words, Turkmenistan's government
has been promoting
President Berdymukhamedov's books about the medicinal powers of tea
and incense.
On
March 13, for example, the government told people to use smoke from
burning herbs to "prevent various infectious diseases,"
citing the president's books.
"The
multi-volume work of the President of Turkmenistan also provides
information on the benefits of red pepper, which has long been used
in our country for medicinal purposes," a portion of the
government's translated message says.
The
country has shuttered many stores, cancelled classes and closed
borders in order to stop the virus, according to Radio
Azatlyk,
another independent outlet affiliated with Radio Free Europe.
"At
the same time, the country's authorities do not inform citizens
about the coronavirus, but take measures to suppress panic among
the population," the outlet reports.
"They
take away people for any talk about the coronavirus," a
correspondent in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan's capital, told the outlet.
"Special people listen to the conversations in lines, at bus
stops, on buses."
Turkmenistan
has not reported any cases of the novel coronavirus to the World
Health Organization, according to WHO
data
from March 30.
It's
unclear whether the tea, the smoke or the repression are
responsible for that number.
—
Questions
about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:
Health
officials caution against all international travel. Returning
travellers are legally obligated to self-isolate for 14 days,
beginning March 26, in case they develop symptoms and to prevent
spreading the virus to others. Some provinces and territories have
also implemented additional recommendations or enforcement measures
to ensure those returning to the area self-isolate.
Symptoms
can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar
to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness.
People most at risk of this include older adults and people with
severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney
disease. If you develop symptoms, contact
public health authorities.
To
prevent
the virus from spreading,
experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your
sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying
home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres
from other people if you go out.
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