It seemed like the State Department managed to guarantee for some of the Turkmen students at AUCA the continuation of their studies after all. New reports had it that a group of fellows of the ACCELS program were going to be send to the American University in Bulgaria (AUBG). Many of the students who used to study at the AUCA receive grants from the American Council and they now hoped to profit from an agreement between the Turkmen Ministry of Education and this dedicated organization. Yesterday, however, the ‘Times of Central Asia’ published a short report, saying that the ACCELS’ office in Ashgabat did not receive exit permission for the group of 61 students. ToCA goes on and reports on rumors indicating that one can get his or her name deleted from the list produced by the Turkmen Ministry of Education entailing the names of those students who are restricted from leaving the country. All they have allegedly to do is to pay 2000 US$.
The whole story ones more sheds light on the poor fate of those students who were preparing themselves at the end of summer to leave for AUCA in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, to resume their studies . First rumors that the Turkmen state might cause problems appeared in late July. They proved to be truth in August, when the students were stopped at the airport before entering the planes and their parents summoned to the officials. Representatives from the Ministry of Education were frank in telling the shocked parents that their sons and daughters are blacklisted and won’t leave the country under no circumstances. weiterlesen ‘Some Turkmen Students still left at Home’
