The government in Turkmenistan has plans to make the country tobacco-free by 2025.
While Turkmen citizens don't doubt the immense health benefits of the initiative, critics slam the repressive methods the government uses to force people to quit smoking.
In its latest anti-smoking drive, nearly two dozen men were paraded on state TV to confess to their "wrongdoings." Some of the men admitted to bringing tobacco products into the country. Others apologized for posting photos on social media that showed them smoking hookahs at home.
Police in Mary Province conducted unannounced raids to the homes of "suspected" hookah smokers in early June, several locals told RFE/RL.
"Police officers entered the private houses without permission and searched the premises despite protests by the homeowners," a Mary resident said on condition of anonymity. "If the officers find a hookah [or its accessories] they take the homeowner to the police station."
In the capital, Ashgabat, police recently conducted a mass interrogation of young people who shared photos online showing them smoking hookahs.
Hookahs -- also known as "shisha" or water pipes -- are not banned in Turkmenistan. But Mary residents said police sought to accuse hookah smokers of illegally selling them and their components.
A "No smoking" sign in Ashgabat (file photo)
In Lebap Province, police in recent weeks intensified a campaign against those who chew tobacco, which is a popular habit in many parts of Central Asia.
In Turkmenistan, selling, producing, and consuming chewing tobacco is considered an administrative offense punishable with a fine. Repeat offenders face up to 15 days in jail.
RFE/RL sources in Lebap said police detained several tobacco chewers and demanded they disclose the names of people who sold the tobacco or face 15 days in jail.
Several illegal tobacco sellers were subsequently found and fined, the sources said.
RFE/RL tried to contact Turkmen authorities for comment about the reports of the raids and interrogations in Ashgabat and elsewhere but did not receive a response. Officials in the authoritarian country usually refuse to speaking to independent media.
Anti-Tobacco Regulations
Turkmenistan has strict regulations that outlaw smoking in all indoor public places, the workplace, and on public transport. Smoking is also banned in certain outdoor areas, including parks, beaches, and playgrounds as well as cultural, educational, medical, and sports facilities.
Most forms of tobacco advertising are banned by law.
The packaging and labeling of tobacco products is strictly regulated. Terms such as "light" and "mild" are prohibited from appearing on the packaging, which must include prominent warnings about the health risks of tobacco -- using both text and graphic images.
A woman smokes in Turkmenistan. Many stores refuse to sell cigarettes to women.
The sale of tobacco products to those under the age of 21 is also prohibited. In reality, many stores -- especially in the provinces -- refuse to sell cigarettes to women regardless of their age, although there is no formal law against such a practice.
People are only allowed to purchase tobacco products -- which are heavily taxed and are relatively expensive -- in state-owned stores.
There have been many reports in recent years that government stores suddenly stopped selling cigarettes without any prior warning or explanation. That led to a rise in underground sales with prices for cigarettes skyrocketing overnight.
Turkmenistan's anti-smoking campaign dates to 2000, when the country's eccentric leader, Saparmurat Niyazov, outlawed smoking in all public places. Niyazov launched the ban after doctors told him to quit smoking himself due to heart problems.
Niyazov's health-obsessed, handpicked successor, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, introduced further bans and restrictions after he took power in 2006, shortly after Niyazov's death.
During his tenure, Turkmenistan became the country with the world's lowest proportion of smokers. According to World Health Organization figures from 2015, smokers made up only 8 percent of the country's population.
Turkmenistan holds a mass bike ride to mark World Health Day in April 2022.
By comparison, 27 percent of Turkmen over 15 and 1 percent of women smoked in 1990.
A dentist-turned-politician, Berdymukahmmedov promoted a healthy lifestyle by forcing citizens to take part in public events, such as mass walks, workouts, and bike rides.
It was Berdymukhammedov who set the goal of making Turkmenistan a nonsmoking nation by 2025. His successor and son, Serdar Berdymukhammedov, continues the policies of his father, who stepped down in March 2022.
Turkmenistan raised tobacco taxes in 2022 twice, causing those prices to increase significantly.
Global Problem
Elsewhere in the world, another country planning to go tobacco-free by 2025 is New Zealand, although the New Zealand government's approach to implement its goal is not comparable to repressive measures by Ashgabat.
In December last year, New Zealand adopted a law that banned the sale of tobacco to anyone born on or after January 1, 2009, to prevent future generations from starting to smoke. The new law will also decrease the number of licensed tobacco sellers from 6,000 to 600 by the end of 2023. Those who break the law will face a heavy a fine of up to $96,000.
Tobacco use has been in a steady decline globally over the past two decades, according to the WHO.
A bazaar in the city of Mary, Turkmenistan (file photo)
But smoking still remains one of the world's leading causes of premature death, accounting for more than 8 million fatalities and costing the global economy $1.4 trillion every year.
It has prompted a growing number of nations to make strict anti-tobacco regulation.
Bhutan -- a tiny, remote kingdom in the Himalayas -- became the first nation in the world to ban the sale of tobacco and to outlaw smoking in all public places in 2004.
In 2010, the country adopted some of the world's strictest anti-tobacco laws by outlawing the sale or smuggling of tobacco into Bhutan. Convicted offenders could face up to five years in prison.
It weakened the law in 2021 during the coronavirus pandemic by allowing for the import of some tobacco products in an effort to end rampant smuggling of cigarettes and other items.