Turkmen Service
Azatlyk Radiosy is the only independent Turkmen-language media outlet reporting inside Turkmenistan, one of the world’s most closed and authoritarian regimes.
Website page views
(2024)
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(2024)
Instagram video views
(2024)
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(2024)
About the Service
Launched in 1953, Azatlyk Radiosy reports from Prague and relies on in-country networks to deliver the news to its audiences that the Turkmen government suppresses.
Despite censorship, the Service reaches tens of thousands of subscribers in Turkmen and Russian online and via social networks, satellite, and shortwave radio.
Azatlyk Radiosy’s coverage documents official corruption, Turkmenistan’s failing education system, and human rights abuses such as forced labor and human trafficking.
Local farmers credited Azatlyk Radiosy for the Turkmen government’s decision to steeply increase state prices for cotton and wheat which they say will dramatically improve their welfare.
Comprehensive coverage by Azatlyk Radiosy on the issues of discrimination and violence against women in Turkmenistan through a special program entitled Hello, Sister!.
The Invisible Rainbow of Turkmenistan documents the plight of the LGBTQ+ community, who face daily persecution and legal crackdowns.
The Turkmens of the World podcast series tells the stories of the Turkmen diaspora.
Reaching Audiences
Media Climate
Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index ranks Turkmenistan 175th out of 180 countries.
Members of the Turkmen government have waged an information campaign against Azatlyk Radiosy, aiming to discredit the Service.
Turkmen security services routinely track down Azatlyk Radiosy’s social media followers and have called the Service “the West’s weapon against Turkmenistan.”
Latest Updates
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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) has named Hamid Ismailov as the company’s new Regional Director for Central Asia, effective February 1.
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On the UNESCO International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) has documented an expanding use of restrictive acts and intimidation targeting its journalists in no…
Service Director
Farruh Yusupov
Farruh Yusupov is the Service Director of RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service, known locally as Azatlyk Radiosy. He originally joined RFE/RL in 2004, working as an editor with the Uzbek Service and providing major contributions to its investigative work, including a series of reports on corruption involving members of Uzbek President Islam Karimov’s family. Yusupov also launched several radio programs for the Uzbek Service, including “Health,” “The Other Side of the Coin,” and “OzodNavigator.” His 2007 radio documentary, Uzbekistan and its Neighbors After Andijon, was nominated for an AIB award. Before joining RFE/RL, Yusupov worked for USAID-funded projects in Uzbekistan. He has an M.A. in Linguistics from Ferghana State University in Uzbekistan.
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