As Turkmens Freeze, President Acts the Interior Designer

It may be freezing all over Europe, but please also spare a thought for sun-loving Turkmenistan.

One day after an unusually heavy snowfall, temperatures plummeted February 3 to a rare -8 degrees Celsius in the capital, Ashgabat. Forecasters are predicting the mercury will drop a few more notches overnight.

In the northern town of Dashoguz, meteorological authorities say the temperature could sink as low as -21 degrees Celsius.

In these kinds of situations, many Ashgabat residents are saved by their electric radiators and heaters run on gas, which has been provided for free since President Saparmurat Niyazov was in power.

Even so, houses in Turkmenistan are poorly designed to cope with such cold snaps.

That fact was amply highlighted during a working tour of Ashgabat on February 2 by President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, who dropped in on a high-rise block in its final stages of construction.

State television showed the president acquainting himself with living conditions for prospective dwellers in that haughty and imperious style now familiar to many Internet users thanks to a video leaked on YouTube. 

Berdymukhamedov was not happy: “The quality of work here does not meet the high demands required in new construction, especially that which is designated for social purposes.”

Illustrating his observation, he pointed to a leaking ceiling in the apartment (also shown on television), which Berdymukhamedov said demonstrated “an unacceptable approach to work.”

As to the design of the apartment, he continued, this left much to be desired.

Why were the rooms not provided with individual temperature-control centralized air conditioning and heating systems, he asked, musing that one thermostat for the whole apartment is simply inconvenient.

Even the color patterns were all wrong.

"In new apartments, the decor, furniture and appliances should be in the national color," he said.

"New homes should be as comfortable as possible to live in and equipped with the most modern accessories,” he said, adding for safe measure that the furnishings should comply with the national customs and traditions of the Turkmen people.