Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Gambling In Turkmenistan

F1 Outsider recently sent me a news link discussing Turkmenistan's plan to open a Las Vegas/Dubai-esque casino beach resort near the port town of Turkmenbashi. Coincidentally, Putin just shut down all Russian casinos and banished them to The Sticks, i.e. Kaliningrad, Azov, Altai, and the North Korean border.


Turkmenistan is a closed and charmingly repressive society. Entry for foreigners is almost impossible. A 2005 film, put out by Journeyman Pictures, fantastically captures the late ruler of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Niyazov. The narcissism and sycophancy are beyond belief.

2 comments:

F1Outsider said...

Just finished watching the film by Journeyman Pictures. Very good insight into a country I had never really heard of prior to visiting your blog and reading the news article.

I did chuckle a bit at the Iraq being an exception comment reacting to the statement the American ambassador gave:
"Violent overthrow of a regime is illegal in any society"

Maxichamp said...

Glad you enjoyed it. Journeyman Pictures has some pretty cool documentaries about some pretty obscure places. It's crazy how little the American/Western media covers.