Turkmenization

Turkmenization is the set of domestic policies the Niyazov administration used in Turkmenistan from 1991 to December 2006 to force ethnic minorities to adopt Turkmen culture. Those who resisted the state-sponsored cultural transformation were often deported.

Antoine Blua of Radio Free Europe defined Turkmenization as the "policy of the Turkmen government targeting the education, employment, and religion of all of the country's non-Turkmen ethnic groups."

Discrimination

Shukrat Babajanov and Khurmat Babadjanov of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Uzbek Service say that since Turkmenistan gained independence, the Niyazov administration has fired most non-ethnic Turkmen civil servants. Officials must prove they have three generations of Turkmen heritage before they are hired. Informal social control is used to ensure citizens speak Turkmen and wear traditional Turkmen clothing. Uzbek women who try to marry Turkmen men are exiled to Uzbekistan with their children. Babajanov and Babadjanov say these policies have led to the emigration of Russians, Kazakhs, and Uzbeks.