The Turkmen government holds tight control of the religious sphere. The government is suspicious of all independent religious activity and maintains a large surveillance apparatus that monitors believers at home and abroad. Turkmen law requires religious groups to register under intrusive criteria, strictly controls registered groups’ activities, and bans and punishes religious activities by unregistered groups.
Source: General of the official religious centre of Geok-Tepe, built to commemorate the brutal slaying of thousands of Turkmen, RUETERS / Zhumatov