30 Days of Press Freedom
While many of the former Soviet Republics in Central Asia have struggled with the development and maintenance of a free press since gaining independence, none has had a worse record than Turkmenistan. In 2003, media outlets in Turkmenistan continued to operate in one of the world’s most repressive environments. Freedom of the press declined from an already dismal state following the assassination attempt on President Saparmurat Niyazov in November 2002.