President of Turkmenistan attended a gala concert in honor of the 20th
anniversary of the country’s neutrality

“Symbolizing a triumph of peace, friendship, good relations, mutual
understanding, lofty aims and principles of humanism, the present
holiday unites closely the nations in the name of the bright future of
the planet Earth … In the evening, an enormous fireworks showcase
with its dazzling and rainbow-colored lights illuminated the sky of
Ashgabat, symbolically lighting up the road to peace, friendship and
prosperity, once and forever chosen by Turkmenistan and its people.” — Turkmenistan’s TDH agency

Editor’s note

The weirdly reclusive central Asian nation declared a
state of “permanent neutrality” in 1996. Its politics centres on a
personality cult around President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, a
58-year-old dentist officially titled “Arkadag” (The Patron) who in
December outlawed the improper burial of horses.