Trevor Pateman's recent thoughts about post-Soviet Turkmenistan made me realize what an absolute blank spot on the map, philatelically, most of the post-Soviet republics are. Do a Google search for Azerbaijani stamps (let alone postal history) and you realize that there's almost nothing out there.
And the 5 Central Asian republics are the worst. Listings of the stamp issues can be found (for example the old WSRP website) but that's it. Postal history? Rates? Postmarks? Hah!
Spurred on by Trevor's blog I took a look at Turkmenistan. The country has mostly been in the news because of the baroque personality cult around its late president, Turkmenbashi (formerly Saparmurat Niyazov, who passed away, unlamented by many, in 2006). But a little digging shows you how much things have changed since 1991.
The old Soviet oblasti (provinces) have now been replaced by Turkish-sounding welayatlar, and placename changes are rife. Some are simple Turkmenizations (e.g. Ashgabat instead of Ashkabad, Turkmenabad instead of Chardzhui), or personality-cult madness (Krasnovodsk is now Turkmenbashi!). But the total effect is something that's very alien to us old Russia-collectors. One of the 5 welayatlar is the westernmost one, Balkan. Balkan? Yes, Balkan. The capital is, not unreasonably, Balkanabat which used to be called Nebit-Dag but not very often since this dreary stop on the Transcaspian railways wasn't built until 1933. So Krasnovodsk Oblast' and its capital Krasnovodsk are now Balkan Welayat with capital Balkanabat. And by the way, the latest postmarks I've seen actually mention the welayat in the postmark.
Stamp issues...Turkmenistan seems to have produced two types of stamp issues: definitive issues of truly epic ugliness, and mad personality-cult issues. Souvenir sheets with the face of Turkmenbashi were printed in formats that nearly exceeded the average album page size! Postal rates are unknown territory.
While getting material from Turkmenistan isn't exactly easy, there are a few new issue dealers out there who will get it for you (no doubt with expressions of great puzzlement) if you ask. My old friend Gurgen Vardanian (VarGur Stamps) in Lithuania is one of them. Non-philatelic covers have to be hunted down painstakingly in various online auctions. But everything's cheap! What more can a collector ask?
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