Turkmenistan and Ashgabat, the city of love

While health and education services are provided by the state, privatization is taking place in every sector. Turkmenistan, under the leadership of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, is rapidly progressing and its cities are undergoing a speedy process of development. The president works day and night to make the country more advanced, monitoring projects closely and ensuring that they are completed as quickly as possible. He is a leader who loves his country and his citizens. Turkmenistan is a country where the words “The state is for the people” is put into practice. In fact, the phrase “The people should not work for us, we should work for the people” belongs to none other than Berdimuhamedov.

The license plate of the presidential car features the five stars found on the Turkmen flag, representing the country’s five provinces.

Ashgabat, the city of love, is changing rapidly. There are very beautiful, modern and tall buildings in the capital. Behind the Kopet Dag mountain range, in the southwest of Turkmenistan, lies Iran. The distance between the capital, Ashgabat, and the border is 35 kilometers.

Turkmens are proud of their flag, which flies in every part of the country. The Turkmens even have the world’s tallest freestanding flagpole, which made it into the Guinness World Records. This 133-meter-long flagpole carries a giant flag of Turkmenistan that is 52.5 meters long, 35 meters wide and weighs 420 kilograms.

Famous Turkmen horses

The Turkmens have a great affection for horses, with Turkmen Akhal-Teke horses raised on special farms. The president attaches great importance to raising them and has ordered stud farms to be built in all five provinces. Everyone in the country knows how much the president, a very good horseman, loves these animals. But horses here have been taken to a whole new level, with Horse Day a national holiday. Indeed, days have been set aside for other aspects of Turkmenistan and Turkmen culture that are deemed important. Among these are Carpet Day, Wheat Day and Melon Day.

Desert bazaar

I visited a famous desert bazaar near Ashgabat. The bazaar is open four days a week, with Turkmens crowding its stalls on Wednesdays, Thursday, Fridays and Sundays. It is one of the biggest outdoor bazaars in the world. Even people from Iran come to shop here. The bazaar’s busiest day is Sunday. People can find everything here. The renowned Turkmen carpets capture our attention the most. These hand-woven carpets feature beautiful designs, with Turkmen women showing customers the carefully woven carpets. I found prayer rugs for $50. There are Turkmen carpets at the desert bazaar that sell for between $2,000 and $3,000.

1) A desert market 2) A wedding gathering 4) Soldiers in traditional costume in front of Rukhiyet Hall, Ashgabat. 5) Turkmen wrestlers 6) Ashgabat

I put on traditional Turkmen dress in one of the sections of the bazaar as well as a kalpak (a type of hat). Black kalpaks are generally worn by older people. White ones are worn on holidays. The summer months are very hot in Turkmenistan. Those in the market feel the scorching heat of the desert, when temperatures range between 45 and 50 degrees Celsius. But it can get even hotter sometimes.

Turkmen wedding

On one of these hot summer days I attended a Turkmen wedding. People rode horses in front of the wedding car. The bride was brought to the groom’s house and people danced and had fun. Traditional wedding ceremonies are still held here, and the Turkmens are keen on keeping their customs and traditions alive.

The mother-in-law took the bride’s hand and put it in flour and then oil so the marriage would be blessed. In line with Turkmen traditions, the bride also held a baby so that the couple will have many children.

The groom’s name was Şahnefes, and the bride’s name was Sülgün. Sülgün is the name of a bird. The bride kept part of her face covered throughout the wedding, but because the heat caused her discomfort, her friends and family tried to cool her down with a fan.

I approached them and congratulated the bride and groom. I was unable to see the bride’s face. Her wedding dress, veil and jewelry weighed 40 kilograms. A Turkmen bride wears her wedding dress and veil for 40 days so that everyone knows she is a newly married woman.

Turkmen rice and tea are served at the wedding. Fresh Turkmen bread is also served while still hot. The locals call this bread çörek. Turkmen rice serves as the main dish and is offered to guests at all weddings. Of course Turkmen the rice comes with meat.

While at this wedding I learned that the Turkmens cook rice every Thursday evening. This is one of their traditions. They make the rice in large amounts and share it with their neighbors. After eating the rice on Thursday nights, they pray and remember the dead.

Is wrestling ever absent from a Turkmen wedding? Of course not. The field was prepared and the wrestlers took their positions. Turkmen wrestling is different from Turkish wrestling. A belt is tied around the two wrestlers, who try to bring each other down by holding on to the belts. The wrestling started in the heat of the day as curious eyes watched them. The wrestlers first try to figure out how strong their rival is, and then the match ends quickly.

This time the winner was Tahir. He is 30 years old and has been wrestling for 10 years. His father was also a wrestler. As the winner, his prize was a camel. In the final round, he quickly pinned his rival again.