On a bright autumn day in September last year, several men barricaded themselves inside a discarded bottling plant on the sleepy outskirts of Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan.
With an impressive arsenal of guns and grenades, they fought the hundreds of security forces that laid siege to them. Tanks were called in. By the end of the ordeal, at least 50 officers were dead. And so were the men.
In a country long controlled by an all-powerful presidency, the siege was unprecedented. Turkmenistan has long touted itself as an island of stability in a rough neighbourhood, bordered as it is by Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Iran.
Yet with the death three years ago of its eccentric dictator, Saparmurat Niyazov, better known by the name he gave himself, Turkmenbashi, or "Father of all Turkmen", the country's impoverished populace has increasingly begun to question the autocratic rule under which they live.
Like nearly everything in this hermit nation, details of the siege - from motives to how long it lasted, though estimates run from 18 hours to three days - remain murky more than a year later. Some say the men organised themselves in a local mosque, others that they were involved in heroin trafficking, a lucrative business here.
But many praise the men for having the nerve to stand up to Turkmenbashi's autocratic successor, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.
"He's a hero," said a 24-year-old man in Ashgabat, speaking of the siege ringleader. "Everyone supported him. My neighbours and I thought, should we go? We would have gone into the streets if everyone went, but no one did."
Ashgabat stands as a testament to the energy wealth of this post-Soviet nation, which holds some of the world's largest gas reserves, according to the BP Statistical Review. The city is peppered with massive white marble apartment buildings, giving it the image of a central Asian Dubai. At night, however, the buildings stand bathed in darkness - few can afford to live in them.
Berdymukhamedov, a health minister under Turkmenbashi and the former dictator's longest-serving cabinet member, has continued the vanity projects begun under his predecessor, building grand hotels and letting little of the wealth trickle down to the people, who make an average £120 to £220 a month. While officially unemployment stands at 5%, international organisations estimate it is closer to 50%.
When Berdymukhamedov took over the presidency upon Turkmenbashi's sudden death in December 2006, many hoped he would open up the country, lifting restrictions on the freedom of its citizens and easing access for foreign investors.
The early signs were promising. The new president made changes, dismantling some of the cult of personality built by Turkmenbashi. He lifted a ban on opera. He removed the hundreds of photographs of Turkmenbashi that adorned everything from theatres to the facades of buildings around the country. He redenominated the country's currency, removing Turkmenbashi's face from all banknotes but the 500 manat note (£107), the highest denomination.
Yet each move forward appeared to be countered by one step back. He reinforced a ban on ballet. Turkmenbashi's photographs were replaced by ones of Berdymukhamedov.
It is rumoured he will soon issue a 1,000 manat note, and put his own face on that. The country is now fully under the swing of a new cult of personality.
"It seems he is becoming his own person," said one western diplomat in Ashgabat. "Even more so recently, he's got this confidence to exude."
In July, the government banned several dozen Turkmen students from leaving the country to study at the American University of Central Asia in nearby Kyrgyzstan. No official explanation was given, but diplomats in the capital believe it was linked to a fear of the greater freedoms found in that country. The issue resonated widely.
"I have never seen such resentment among people as with the students," said another western diplomat in Ashgabat. "You can see the people are not asleep. This was an issue of principles."
Earlier this month, the US Peace Corps was banned from entering Turkmenistan.The media remain under total state control and the fear of ever-present security forces is high.
"No one speaks out against the president," said one man in the city of Mary, in central Turkmenistan. "Right away, you're arrested and jailed and considered an enemy of the people for life. They go after your family, your friends."
"It may look fine but they watch everything that's going on," the first western diplomat said.
Recently, the government had taken to breaking up religious meetings, using the excuse that they were gatherings of drug dealers, he added.
And the post-Soviet nationalism launched by Turkmenbashi - through the banning of opera, ballet and circuses, for example - is also still alive. Students are obliged to wear traditional Turkmen dress to school, and are still forced to read and memorise the Ruhmana, a sort of Turkmen moral bible written by the former president.
But others argue that in other ways, Berdymukhamedov has made positive moves. He has eased travel within the country by lifting checkpoints and allowing Turkmen to travel abroad. He has brought in internet access, though internet cafes are few and state-run, with users obliged to leave identification details and computers monitored by video cameras.
As one western diplomat concedes: "He's done a lot, improved a lot, but recently there seem to be some things to set it back a bit."
