A bazaar in Bayramaly in Mary Province. Still image from a video on the YouTube channel of Salih Asad
Plain-clothed members of the Turkmen law enforcement agencies have started to systematically eavesdrop on conversations in markets in the country’s capital Ashgabat, Radio Liberty’s Turkmen website Azatlyk reports (in Russian).
While such plainclothes police were already used in mosques, surveillance has now been stepped up in marketplaces. At the Tekin Bazaar in Ashgabat, for instance, an officer of the state security services now operates alongside the market official who collects fees from vendors and distributes receipts.
Plainclothes officers also wander around the market grounds, eavesdropping on conversations between buyers and sellers, paying special attention to people using mobile phones. Taking photographs and filming in public places such as parks, streets, markets, shops, railway stations and airports can land you a trip to the police station.
Particular efforts are made to track down the correspondents of independent media outlets following each new report on cash shortages, ATM queues and other social problems in the country: the security services check through CCTV recordings to establish where, how, and by whom information was spread.
The use of mobile telephones during working hours was recently banned in state agencies and medical and educational establishments in Turkmenistan.
