A couple of days ago the official Turkmen media outlets reported that the book entitled “a grandson making his son’s dream come true” was presented in the Japanese language in the Turkmen State University named after Makhtumkuli.
Thus a question arises – why was the book published in the Japanese language presented in Ashgabat rather than in Tokyo?
The answer is simple. The book devoted to the life and work of the Turkmen President was not translated for the Japanese audience. This is a kind of gift to the Turkmen leader designed to coax the President in the run-up to his visit to Japan.
Business organizations from this country are expecting to sign profitable contracts.
This practice was initiated by the Turkish entrepreneur Akhmed Chalyk who had arranged the translation of the Rukhnama authored by Niyazov. Small expenses for the publication and translation of the book brought huge dividends to Chalyk.
Other foreign entrepreneurs followed his example and the Rukhnama was translated into a dozen of languages.
Since Niyazov’s time such selective book printing has been converted into a lucrative business. Back then book stores were stocked with books authored by Niyazov or devoted to Niyazov. Now they have been replaced by the books about other heroes.
At the same time, other renowned Turkmen writers such as Rakhim Esenov, Tirkish Jumageldiev and others have no opportunity to get their books published. According to our sources, about 50 writers have been included in the black lists.
The writings of these reputable authors are obviously much more interesting and important than the books authored by the country’s President and published in Turkmenistan and abroad. But for entrepreneurs the content of these books makes no difference. They know well what writer to get translated and published to yield a good profit.
Abridged translation of the article from the Turkmen web page