Turkmenistan

“From the scientific point of view, it's unlikely that the virus is not circulating in Turkmenistan.”

“Ties between the Taliban and al-Qaida are bogus, the only ones talking about [such ties] are the government in Kabul and the Americans.”

“It’s an absolute lie [that Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has died],” said a representative of the embassy. “We refute these reports.”

“Liberalism worships two things: money and debauchery ... Eventually, this worship made all democracies morph into atheistic regimes, who’ve been witch-hunting all of the major religions.”

"I understand that some countries would like to forget as soon as possible about the role that they played in the years of prior to World War II. However, I deem those attempts to accuse us of militarizing public opinion as offensive."

“Objectively, for the Americans contacts with ISIL are more interesting… – for spreading sabotage actions beyond the pales of Afghanistan. On the border with Turkmenistan there is a major offensive is being cooked by Islamic State and allied groups. That is where they may surface.”

“I note that we’ve never, even in the days of tsarist Russia, killed people for dissent. This, by the way, is the great strength of our people.”

“Russia is ready to host the World Cup. The stadiums are open. The cops are polyglots. That is a quick recap of many years of work.We're not going to lose face in front of the planet. It’s not for nothing we terrified [the planet] with a missile. In general, all is well. But there is only one “but”: Our team, frankly, is sh-t.”

“The U.S. has a direct interest in destabilizing the situation in Central Asia, including by using IS… The Americans believe that this will allow them to unravel the situation in Russia.”

“Today, Washington is losing allies even faster than the USSR did during its period of decline. Old and experienced [U.S.] partners are turning in the direction of Russia and China, and many are simply waiting for the right moment to escape the sinking ship of American ‘democracy’."

“Today, unfortunately, it can be noted that the United States is trying to establish a loyal regime [in Afghanistan] under the pretext of fighting terrorism. Our country takes the position that the United States (should) withdraw its troops from Afghanistan; the legitimately elected government of Afghanistan takes principally the same position. U.S. success in the fight against terrorism, especially in Afghanistan, is not particularly discernible.”

“U.S. actions in Afghanistan are destabilizing, harmful to neighboring countries but above all to Afghanistan itself… ISIS was created by the United States to solve geopolitical problems in the Middle East, [but] now they see it’s not working there and are preparing to move ISIS to Central Asia.”