TURKMEN DIPLOMAT SAYS DRUGS BEHIND DEMONSTRATION.

A diplomatat Turkmenistan’s embassy in Moscow told Interfax July 17 thatdrugs and not politics were behind a small demonstration of 80young people in Ashgabat last week. He said 49 of the 80 involvedwere high on drugs and 22 others were drunk. Last week Russianmedia had reported that more than 1,000 protesters had assembledin Ashgabat to demand new elections.