According to the BBC, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has started replacing the state's fleet with white cars last September, and now everybody in the country is being advised to forget about black paint as well, or else. Or else what? Exactly.
The BBC got the news from opposition site Chrono-tm.org, where it is said that so far this month, they know of three instances when Turkmen customs officers refused black cars from being imported. The only explanation for why the two black Toyota Corollas and the Lexus RX330 arriving from Dubai were not good enough for Turkmenistan was that they should import white cars instead, as "white brings luck."
The report says that this is hardly surprising for the locals, knowing that their dear President's team comes up with new bans on a regular basis. So far, importing could be problematic if your ride was a supercar, or its engine was over 3.5 liters, or it was older than 12 months, or came with tinted windows and/or personalized number plates. And the list goes on and on.
Last year, there were protests in the capital after authorities demanded the removal of air-conditioning units from blocks of flats in order to improve the city's appearance. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov's not-so-secret grand plan is to turn Ashgabat into a "white city" by covering all the major buildings with marble.
Sounds more like Crazytown.
Photo credit: AP