Turkmenistan Bans Dark Clothing & Forces Women Into Bright Traditional Dress

Turkmenistan's obsession with controlling how citizens look traces back to its first post-Soviet president, Saparmurat Niyazov (ruled 1991–2006), who banned everything from gold teeth to opera and renamed the months of the year after himself. His successor, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov (2006–2022), intensified aesthetic controls, mandating white or pale cars throughout Ashgabat, removing air-conditioning units from building facades, and systematically requiring women to wear traditional Turkmen dress. The capital, already nicknamed the 'White City' for its Guinness-record density of white marble buildings, became a living canvas for presidential taste. Under current president Serdar Berdymukhammedov (Gurbanguly's son, in power since March 2022), the dress restrictions tightened further — beauty salons were shuttered, women were banned from sitting in the front seat of taxis, and specific color mandates (particularly yellow) were issued for female state employees. The ban on dark clothing, especially black, is broadly understood as an anti-Islamic measure aimed at suppressing religious expression, since black robes are associated with conservative Muslim dress. Crucially, academic expert Slavomir Horak of Charles University has told RFE/RL that these 'regulations are not based on legal documents' — they flow from presidential remarks, internal memos, and unofficial instructions passed down through employers and police. This means citizens cannot challenge them in court or even demand to see the written rule. The system enforces compliance through the threat of job loss, fines of up to half a month's salary, or police detention, making the absence of formal law even more insidious.