The president is directly elected for an unlimited number of seven-year terms, extended from five years under a 2016 constitutional revision. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, having held presidential office for 15 years, announced in February 2022 he would resign. His son, Serdar Berdimuhamedov, was elected that March with nearly 73 percent of the vote, beating out eight other candidates who observers considered noncompetitive. There were reports of widespread electoral law violations and that state workers were forced to vote in favor of Serdar Berdimuhamedov.

In January 2023, constitutional changes were adopted, giving Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov permanent membership in the Khalk Maslakhaty, which was also elevated to a new constitutional status above the legislature and above the president, who is no longer able to veto laws proposed by the body, though he is a member of it. President Serdar Berdimuhamedov also issued a decree on January 21 declaring his father chairman of the body. The changes also guarantee Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and his family state protection as well as immunity from prosecution. Critics argue that the developments effectively make Turkmenistan a dictatorship under Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.

In 2023, there was also an increase in the personality cult surrounding Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. All public institutions and enterprises were required to hang his portrait next to the portrait of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, with state employees required to raise funds to pay for the portraits.

January 2023 witnessed constitutional changes which shifted the Turkmen parliament from a bicameral institution to a unicameral body, the Mejlis, composed of 125 members directly elected from individual districts to serve five-year terms. The former upper chamber, the Khalk Maslakhaty, was elevated above the parliament to become the highest governing body in the country.

Elections to the Mejlis, which were tightly controlled by the state and featured no genuine competition from opposition candidates, took place in March 2023 The ruling Democratic Party of Turkmenistan (DPT) obtained 65 seats, the Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs took 18 seats, the Agrarian Party took 24 seats and 18 seats went to candidates nominated by groups of citizens. The Central Election Commission (CEC) claimed that turnout was 91. An Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Assessment Mission report issued in October said that the election was not held to international standards of democracy and lacked genuine competitiveness.

The legal framework for elections is neither fair nor impartially implemented. The CEC is appointed by the president and operates with little transparency. The law allows virtually no opportunity for independent fundraising or campaigning.

Constitution and electoral code amendments in 2016 removed the upper age limit of 70 for presidential candidates, extended the presidential term from five to seven years, and eliminated the right of public associations to nominate presidential candidates.

The party system is dominated by the ruling DPT and controlled by the executive branch. The 2012 law on political parties specified the legal basis for citizens to form independent parties, but barred parties formed on professional, regional, or religious lines, and those created by government officials. Nevertheless, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov subsequently announced plans to form two new groups—the Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs and the Agrarian Party. Both were then openly organized by sitting members of the DPT and formally registered in 2012 and 2014, respectively. The Agrarian Party won its first parliamentary seats in 2018.

Turkmenistan has never experienced a peaceful transfer of power between rival parties through elections. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov had served in the government of his late predecessor, Saparmurat Niyazov, who in turn had ruled the country since before its independence from the Soviet Union. The Soviet-era Communist Party became the DPT in 1991 and remains in power to date. All genuine opposition groups operate either illegally or in exile. In March 2022, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov’s son, Serdar, took over as president. In January 2023, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov was declared “leader of the nation.” His preeminent position in the country was reestablished, so that despite having effectively handed the presidency to his son in 2022, he could officially intervene in domestic and foreign policy with supreme authority.

The authoritarian political system offers voters no meaningful alternatives to the ruling party. At an informal level, politics within the regime are thought to be influenced by regional patronage networks, or “clans,” that control different parts of the state and economy.

Members of the ethnic Turkmen majority and the president’s tribal subdivision are favored for leadership positions. While women and members of ethnic or religious minority groups formally have full political rights, no segment of the country’s population enjoys the practical ability to engage in independent political activity. About a quarter of candidates elected to the Mejlis in 2018 and in 2023 were women.

Following the constitutional changes in 2023, the Khalk Maslahaty, chaired by Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, seems to have ultimate decision-making authority, which was previously held by the president, who is not freely elected. The executive branch determines laws and policies with no meaningful input or oversight from the rubber-stamp legislature, which mainly serves to endorse the government’s decrees and policies.

There are no independent institutions tasked with combating corruption, which is widespread in Turkmenistan. Anticorruption bodies have allegedly been used to extort revenue from wealthy officials and businesspeople. Crackdowns on corruption are typically selective and related to conflicts within the ruling elite.

Genuine checks on nepotism and conflicts of interest are lacking. Corruption is widespread across the public sector and in everyday life. In 2023, there were reports of significant increases in the cost of bribes for placing children in schools where foreign languages are taught, for obtaining a passport, and for some people wishing to make the Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. There were also reports of families having to pay bribes to have their sons released from military service after serving the state-required two-year term.

Decisions on monetary policy, large-scale contracts with foreign companies, and the allocation of state profits from hydrocarbon exports are largely opaque and ultimately controlled by the government, which is not freely elected, without effective legal limits or independent oversight. Government officials and state-owned companies are not required to disclose their basic financial information to the public.

Press freedom is severely restricted. The state controls nearly all broadcast and print media, and the state-run internet service provider blocks websites that carry independent news coverage or opposition-oriented content. Some citizens access foreign satellite broadcasts, but the government continues efforts to remove receivers from houses in the countryside.

Independent journalists, particularly those affiliated with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), experience harassment, detention, physical abuse, and prosecution on trumped-up charges.

In May 2023, at the request of the Turkmen government, Turkish authorities detained Farhat Meimankulyiev, also known as Farhad Durdyev, an opposition video blogger living in Istanbul. Meimankulyiev was sent to a Turkish deportation camp and reportedly deported back to Turkmenistan later in May and sentenced to a lengthy prison term there. His colleagues feared that he would face torture in prison.

Legal restrictions, state monitoring and harassment, and the risk of penalties including fines and imprisonment have virtually extinguished the ability of individuals to freely practice religion. A 2016 law on religion maintained existing bans on religious activity outside state control, imposed a higher membership threshold for the registration of religious groups, and required all registered groups to reapply for registration. Senior Muslim clerics are appointed by the government, and Muslims who do not follow the officially approved interpretation of Islam are subject to persecution, including lengthy prison terms.

Members of unregistered religious minority groups continue to face raids, beatings, and other forms of harassment. Turkmenistanis who conscientiously object to compulsory military service for religious reasons risk imprisonment. In 2023, there were reports that women who wore the hijab and other religious clothing or carried Islamic beads faced harassment and interrogation by the security services.

The government places significant restrictions on academic freedom, limiting research on politically sensitive topics and imposing onerous obstacles to the recognition of degrees from foreign institutions. Curriculums in schools and universities are controlled by the government.

Private discussion and the expression of personal views are highly restricted due to intrusive supervision by state security services, including physical surveillance, monitoring of telephone and electronic communications, and the use of informers. Users often face disruption to the internet. According to Turkmen.news, in April 2023, over 3 billion internet protocol (IP) addresses—about 75 percent of all IP addresses in the world—were blocked in the country.

In recent years, the government has employed increasingly sophisticated methods to monitor the population. Authorities have reportedly used special software to eavesdrop on voice over internet protocol (VoIP) calls, operate computer cameras remotely, and record keystrokes. Social media users who post critical comments about the government are subject to intimidation and imprisonment, and restrictions on social media sites, cloud storage services, and VPNs have intensified. In April 2023, the ICQ messenger service was also blocked in the country, according to the Turkmen-language service of RFE/RL, further limiting citizens’ access to social media sites. In August, IMO—the last existing messenger service in the country—became inaccessible as a result of slow internet speed. Access is also blocked to even basic independent online sites, including those with weather forecasts and medical information.

The constitution guarantees freedom of assembly, and the 2015 Law on Assemblies defines the right of individuals and groups to hold peaceful gatherings with prior authorization. However, the law grants officials broad discretion to block assemblies, and the authorities do not allow organized antigovernment demonstrations. Protests are rare, but shortages of food and other issues led to sporadic demonstrations in the spring and summer of 2023. For example, missing food rations led over 100 people to publicly protest in Koneurgench in April, and hundreds to publicly protest in Turkmenbashi in August. The various protests generally subsided after the intervention of local officials, and sometimes elders, usually with promises regarding the release of rationed food. In September, a crowd of mostly women protested outside a state bakery in Mary over a bread shortage; they dispersed only after the manager distributed bread to the crowd. There were also protests in March about the destruction of a local park in Turkmenabat.

Onerous registration and regulatory requirements effectively prevent most independent nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from operating legally or receiving foreign funding, and activities by unregistered groups can draw fines, detention, and other penalties. Individual activists face intimidation and harassment, as do the family members of human rights activists working in exile.

Turkmenistani activists who live abroad have also faced pressure.

Workers have a legal right to join trade unions, but there are no protections against antiunion discrimination, and strikes are prohibited. The government-controlled Association of Trade Unions of Turkmenistan is the only union organization permitted to operate.

The judicial system is subservient to the president, who appoints and dismisses judges unilaterally. In practice, the courts are commonly used to punish dissent and remove potential threats to the government’s political dominance.

Arbitrary arrests and detentions are common, particularly for dissidents, members of unapproved religious groups, activists, and journalists who work with foreign organizations. The authorities frequently deny defendants’ basic rights of due process, including public trials and access to defense attorneys.

Prison conditions are extremely harsh, and security forces routinely use torture to extract confessions or punish inmates, which can result in deaths in custody. Turkmenistanis are also subject to enforced disappearances. Physical abuse and hazing in the military have reportedly led to several deaths among conscripts in recent years. In February 2022, the Analytical Center for Central Asia Media (ACCA Media) reported that about 100 people were detained in one week in the capital, Ashgabat. They were placed in the Zhitnikovo temporary detention center where they were tortured and assaulted.

Employment and education opportunities for members of non-Turkmen ethnic minorities are limited by the government’s promotion of the Turkmen national identity, and activists who advocate for minority rights have faced persecution. Traditional social and religious norms help to restrict women’s access to education and economic opportunity; there are no legal protections against sexual harassment in the workplace.

The law does not protect LGBT+ people from discrimination, and sexual activity between men can be punished with up to two years in prison.

Freedom of movement is restricted, with frequent reports of individuals being barred from traveling abroad; officials are reportedly instructed to prevent citizens under the age of 40 from leaving the country. The government is known to prohibit the families of dissidents and prisoners from leaving. Internal passports and a residency permit system also obstruct travel within the country.

In 2023, the government introduced further measures to restrict citizens from leaving the country by temporarily pausing new applications for passports and requiring higher bribes for processing passports, and by requesting that the Turkish government introduce a visa regime to discourage Turkmen citizens from traveling to Turkey. In August, new restrictions were introduced requiring citizens wishing to leave the country to undertake an interview and a psychological test and to sign a guarantee that they would return to the country.

The constitution establishes the right to property ownership, but the deeply flawed judiciary provides little protection to businesses and individuals, and the president’s relatives monopolize key sectors of the economy that are not directly state controlled. Arbitrary evictions and confiscation of property are common.

Domestic violence is reportedly common, but few victims file complaints with the authorities, and the government has not made significant efforts to monitor, prevent, or combat the problem. Reporting and prosecution of rape are similarly limited. While polygamy has long been illegal, it apparently persists in practice.

Restrictions introduced in 2022 significantly curtailed people’s social freedoms, particularly women’s rights. The new rules banned women from wearing tight clothes, dyeing their hair, and wearing certain accessories. Cosmetic surgery has been outlawed, male drivers of private cars are no longer allowed to have nonfamily female passengers, and women may not ride in the front seat of a car. In 2023, there were reports that women under the age of 40 were denied driver’s licenses.

The government forces thousands of students, public employees, and other citizens to participate in the annual cotton harvest with little or no pay. Impoverished residents of rural areas are especially vulnerable to trafficking abroad for forced labor or sexual exploitation, and the government does little to address the problem.

The state’s mismanagement of a weak economy, including soaring inflation, has inhibited opportunity and imposed hardships on the population. Children from impoverished families often need to work outdoors during the hot summer holidays selling products like produce and water. Persistently low oil and gas prices have driven down vital export revenues in recent years, leading to reports of unpaid wages and shortages of basic goods. Basic food stuffs are reportedly being rationed and people caught buying more than their allotted share of bread have been threatened by the police with a penalty of 15 days in prison.