Turkmenistan

Source : Reuters | 24 Oct 2012

The president of gas-rich Turkmenistan on Tuesday promised to raise salaries and pensions and to transform the former Soviet republic from an agrarian nation into an industrial one, heralding what he called "The Happiness and Might Epoch".

President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov also said he planned to extend the time that pupils spent at secondary school from ten years to 12 years, promising he would use the Central Asian country's gas wealth to push up living standards.

Source : RIA | Moscow | 14 Aug 2012

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov on Sunday signed a decree granting amnesty to more than 1, 300 inmates in honor of the Night of Destiny Muslim religious holiday.

The holy month of Ramadan is now marked in the Muslim world. This year Laylat al Qadr, also known as the Night of Power or the Night of Destiny, will be celebrated in the night of August 14th-15th. It is the anniversary of the night Muslims believe the first verses of the Quran were revealed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

Source : Agencies | 18 May 2012

Turkmenistan has pardoned more than 1,000 prisoners, including 35 foreign citizens, in celebration of a national holiday in the former Soviet republic, state television reported on Friday.

President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov was shown telling a government meeting that all of those pardoned should be allowed home to their families for the holiday. He also ordered that jobs be found for all of those released.