On 15 January, 2022 VPN and proxy servers used by local residents to circumvent messengers blocked in Turkmenistan were not accessible in Ashgabat.
According to a source at “Chronicles of Turkmenistan”, the national mobile operator “Altyn Asyr” introduced a list of approved websites. In other words, there was the list of blocked websites whereas now all websites and online services, which are not included in the approved list, have been blocked.
At the same time, VPN servers are still accessible when they are logged into via Wi-fi routers.
On 12 January, following the events in Kazakhstan, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov held a session in Turkmenistan’s Defense Ministry and charged the Defense Minister Gurbanmyrat Annayev with tightening control over the Internet and limiting the use of web-based resources in Turkmenistan disseminating materials posing a threat to the constitutional system.
In 2021 the Turkmen authorities launched a campaign to combat servers which allowed circumventing Internet censorship.After blocking some VPN servers local specialists quickly had previously set up others which were operational before another “cleansing” campaign, now they last for a few days or even hours.
IT specialists believe that “Turkmentelecom” might have installed new equipment which is capable of blocking such servers.
Update. In the evening of 16 January the blocked website and VNP servers were accessible again.The post Source: Mobile provider “Altyn Asyr” introduces a list of approved websites and services first appeared on Chronicles of Turkmenistan.