WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The government of Turkmenistan should stop forcing Turkmens to remove their satellite dishes and restrict their choice of entertainment and information, an international human rights group said in a statement on Friday.
“Satellite television is the last lifeline to the outside world for people in Turkmenistan,” Human Rights Watch (HRW) Deputy Europe and Central Asia Director Rachel Denber said in the statement.
In March 2015, local housing authorities in Ashgabat told residents to in multistory apartment buildings to remove their satellite dishes, saying the “ruined the view of the city,” according to HRW.
Turkmen authorities also told residents they could obtain cable packages from the government or state satellite antennae that broadcast close to 100 channels, which are mostly entertainment channels.
“Turkmenistan does not allow media freedom. The government controls virtually all print and electronic media; Internet access remains heavily state-controlled; and many websites are blocked, including those of foreign news organizations.”
HRW noted that the Turkmen government has tried three times in the past four years to force its citizens not to use satellite television.
In 2007, the government attempted to make citizens remove satellite dishes, but failed as a result of an “international outcry” against the move, HRW said.
In 2011, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov ordered the country to substitute satellite dishes with government cable TV packages, but the order was never enforced, according to the HRW.
