Turkmen TV

State Media Monitor uses Turkmen TV as an analytical grouping for Turkmenistan’s state television and radio system. The system comprises eight television channels and four radio services operating within the State Committee for Television, Radio Broadcasting and Cinematography. The Committee was established on 17 October 2011 by a presidential resolution approving its regulation, organisational structure and affiliated institutions. Meýlis Rejepow has chaired the Committee since July 2024.

The 2011 resolution abolished the former General Directorate of Turkmen Television, made the new Committee its legal successor and located it at the Turkmenistan Television and Radio Broadcasting Centre in Ashgabat. The Committee’s principal institutional task is to implement state policy in television, radio broadcasting and cinematography. The establishment and succession arrangements are documented in the official government announcement.

Media assets

Television: Altyn Asyr: Türkmenistan, Ýaşlyk, Miras, Türkmenistan, Türkmen Owazy, Aşgabat, Sport and Arkadag

Radio: Watan, Çar tarapdan, Miras and Owaz

Altyn Asyr is the principal national news channel; Ýaşlyk is directed primarily at younger audiences; Miras concentrates on culture and heritage; Türkmenistan is the internationally oriented channel; Türkmen Owazy focuses on music; Aşgabat covers the capital; and Sport provides sports programming. The sports channel is also styled Türkmen Sporty on the Committee’s live service and Türkmenistan: Sport in some state reporting.

Arkadag was established by presidential decree on 30 March 2023 for the newly created city of the same name. The decree provided for regular broadcasting to begin in September 2023 for fifteen hours a day. Arkadag is now included in the Committee’s current eight-channel roster. The creation and proposed broadcasting schedule are documented by the official state source.

The Committee’s current institutional page expressly lists eight television channels and four radio services.

The organisational structure does not correspond exactly to the separation between television and radio in the asset list. Some services are formally constituted as television-and-radio channels. Official appointment records refer, for example, to Ýaşlyk as a television-and-radio channel, while its structure includes the Çar tarapdan radio service.

Ownership and governance

All eight television channels and four radio services are state-owned and operate within the State Committee for Television, Radio Broadcasting and Cinematography. The Committee implements state broadcasting policy and exercises direct administrative control over the system. State Media Monitor identified no independent supervisory board, external oversight body or governance mechanism separating the broadcasters from the state.

Meýlis Baýrammyradowiç Rejepow is Chairman of the Committee. President Serdar Berdimuhamedow appointed him by decree on 12 July 2024, simultaneously relieving him of his previous position as director of the Aşgabat television channel. Arslan Aşyrow, the previous Chairman, was dismissed on health grounds. The appointment is documented in the presidential decree.

Presidential control extends to individual channels. On the same day as Rejepow’s appointment, the President appointed new directors of Aşgabat and Ýaşlyk. In August 2024, he appointed a new director of the Türkmenistan channel. In February 2026, the President appointed a new director of Altyn Asyr: Türkmenistan, transferred the previous director of Arkadag to that position and appointed a new director of Arkadag. These appointments are made by presidential instrument rather than through an independent or competitive procedure. The July 2024 appointments are recorded in the official presidential resolutions, while the February 2026 changes appear in the official parliamentary account of the Cabinet meeting.

Source of funding and budget

The financing structure is opaque and the published evidence is not entirely consistent.

Reporters Without Borders states in its 2026 country assessment that Turkmenistan’s media belong to and are financed by the Government. Media and Journalism Research Center research has also recorded public financing of the state broadcasting system.

Official policy has nevertheless promoted a transition towards self-financing. A presidential resolution reported in July 2017 provided for state-budget financing of the television and radio channels to be phased out over four years from 2018, with future operations supported through advertising and self-accounting revenue. In February 2021, the President again ordered measures for the Committee’s phased transition to self-financing. The latter instruction was reported by Business Turkmenistan and Turkmenportal.

Commercial structures clearly exist. The Committee’s current institutional page lists four self-accounting entities under its authority, including the Teleradiomerkezi state enterprise and the Mahabat advertising unit. Its website provides a dedicated Mahabat advertising contact, advertises paid broadcasting packages and also operates commercial features including a television marketplace and paid interactive services.

Editorial independence

Editorial independence is absent in practice. The broadcasters operate as instruments of state communication, with coverage centred on President Serdar Berdimuhamedow, his predecessor Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow and the priorities and achievements presented by the government.

The governance structure makes that alignment institutional rather than merely editorial. The Committee exists to implement state broadcasting policy; its Chairman and individual channel directors are appointed by the President; and no independent board or external oversight mechanism separates editorial management from the executive.

Formal legal protections do, however, exist and should be recorded. Turkmenistan’s Law on Mass Media, Law No. 355-IV of 22 December 2012, applies to television and radio channels. Article 4 declares the media free, guarantees freedom of expression through the media and prohibits censorship, interference in media activity and monopolisation of the media. The law entered into force on 4 January 2013. Its provisions are available in the published legal text.

These provisions do not create structural independence. When the law entered into force, Reporters Without Borders described it as disconnected from actual media practice and noted that the state’s formal guarantees of independence and pluralism were contradicted by comprehensive government control. That assessment remains reflected in current evidence. RSF’s analysis of the law describes its formal protections and lack of practical effect.

AI and digital policy

State Media Monitor could not identify a published policy governing generative artificial intelligence, mandatory human verification, model provenance or audience disclosure at the Committee or any of its channels. It also could not establish the extent to which AI tools have been incorporated into broadcasting and production.

Turkmenistan had begun developing a national AI policy framework by 2026. In January, the Government announced plans to develop rules governing the use of artificial intelligence, clarify institutional responsibilities and prepare national standards and technical regulations. The initiative is described in the official government announcement.

During 2026, the Government and UNDP were also preparing a National Artificial Intelligence Strategy linked to the State Programme for the Digital Economy for 2026 to 2028. UNDP reported that priority areas for the strategy were being developed and validated, rather than that a binding regulatory framework had already entered into force. UNDP’s account documents that process.

Classification rationale

Turkmen TV remains classified State-Controlled Media (SC).

It is wholly state-owned and directly state-governed. The eight television channels and four radio services operate within a state committee whose statutory function is to implement government broadcasting policy. The President appoints the Committee’s Chairman and the directors of individual channels. No independent supervisory board, protected appointment procedure or external oversight mechanism was identified.

Its finances remain under state control. Current international assessments and State Media Monitor research record government financing, while official policy has also promoted self-financing through advertising and paid services. The commercial structures identified are themselves owned and controlled by the Committee and do not provide financial independence. The absence of a current appropriation, accounts or a revenue breakdown prevents a reliable determination of the balance between public and commercial income.

Its editorial agenda is directed by the state. The broadcasters disseminate government messaging centred on the President, his predecessor and state priorities. Leadership is appointed presidentially, domestic independent broadcasting is absent and no independent mechanism protects editorial decision-making.

Article 4 of the Mass Media Law contains formal guarantees of media freedom and prohibitions on censorship and interference. These provisions are relevant but are not supported by independent governance, protected appointments or an enforcement mechanism capable of counterbalancing direct presidential and Committee control.

September 2026