As a teenager, Bekmurad Khojaev hid from his parents to smoke. Fifty years later, the retiree is still in hiding, but now from the police in Turkmenistan, where authorities are promising to "free" the reclusive Central Asian country from tobacco by the end of the year.
"I smoke in my apartment. But if I feel like smoking in the city, I look for a place without surveillance cameras to avoid a fine: an alley, a dead end, behind tall bushes, trees, in a deserted area," the 64-year-old mason told AFP.
"I've already been fined outside my house. Since then, I've tried not to get caught again," says Mr. Khojaev.
Police are hunting down smokers to "eradicate smoking" by the end of 2025 and transform this former Soviet republic of some seven million inhabitants into the first "tobacco-free country".
A goal set for 2022 by the undisputed leader, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov. This former dentist, who advocates a healthy lifestyle, has made Turkmenistan one of the world's leaders in the fight against smoking, with only 41,300 users, according to the World Health Organization, which estimates the number of tobacco-related deaths at more than seven million each year.
To satisfy his addiction, the mason Khojaev "buys cigarettes in private kiosks, because there are none in state-owned stores," owned by the Ministry of Commerce.
In his kiosk in the capital Ashgabat, vendor Meilis sells cigarettes imported from "Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Iran."
"Most of the time, I sell them individually. Not everyone can afford to buy a whole pack, it's too expensive," says the 21-year-old, afraid of saying one thing too many to a journalist.
– Fines galore –
According to several heavy smokers interviewed by AFP, a pack costs between 50 and 170 manats, and cigarettes between two and five.
One package can represent up to 11% of the average salary, which was around 1,500 manats in 2018, according to the latest available Turkmen data.
A substantial sum, even if comparisons with other countries are complicated by the dual exchange rate in Turkmenistan: the official one, used by the state to artificially control the currency, and the real one, on the black market, which is six times weaker.
In a hospital in Ashgabat, doctor Soltan welcomes the "active fight against tobacco."
"We treat tobacco addiction. The Ministry of Health has created centers where smokers can get free advice on how to quit," she told AFP.
But the authorities are relying mainly on coercion to achieve their goals: increasing customs duties, raising the legal smoking age; banning smoking almost everywhere, limiting the number of packets allowed to be imported to two, and of course, increasing and multiplying fines, which can reach 200 manats.
"After receiving several fines, I finally decided to quit after an episode where I smoked in my own car, parked in a municipal parking lot," says Ilyas Byachimov, a 24-year-old entrepreneur.
"A police officer ticketed me. I protested, saying it was my car. He replied: yes, the car is yours, but the parking lot is a public place," he recalls.
– Public apologies –
In this country living in "the era of the rebirth of a new powerful state" governed without interruption since 2006 by the Berdymukhamedovs, the father Gurbanguly then the son Serdar, this quasi-absolute power is put on display.
Following President Serdar Berdymukhamedov's order to wage an "uncompromising fight" against tobacco by 2023, some twenty people shown on television promised never to smoke shisha or import contraband tobacco again.
And burnings of contraband cigarettes against the backdrop of traditional Turkmen dances and music are regularly organized.
The year 2025 is already well underway, but the authorities have not yet declared victory.
When contacted by AFP, the Ministry of Health refused to respond, which is hardly surprising in this silent country where obtaining information is extremely complicated and verifying it is almost impossible.
But some smokers seemed doubtful about the implementation of this total ban.
"Cigarettes will not disappear completely, but they will become much more expensive and a black market will appear," believes 60-year-old worker Haidar Chikhiev.
Saleswoman Galina Soyunova believes that cigarettes "will still be available under the counter, even more expensive."
"Who will buy cigarettes at exorbitant prices? No one. The smoking issue will resolve itself," concludes the forty-year-old.
And even before reaching its tobacco target, Turkmenistan announced in mid-July an action plan to tackle alcohol by 2028.
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