Concert Tickets Online — But Citizens Still Cannot Obtain Basic Documents?

Concert Tickets Online — But Citizens Still Cannot Obtain Basic Documents? On 4 October 2026, the state-run outlet Business Turkmenistan reported that a festive concert featuring well-known international performers will take place on 9 October at the Ashgabat Multifunctional Stadium. The announced lineup includes Russian singer Nyusha, Turkish stars Hadise and Murat Boz, and renowned Lebanese singer Maya Diab. The way tickets are being sold deserves particular attention. Tickets can be purchased online through the official website of the Ashgabat City Administration and the “Digital City” mobile application. Payment can be made by bank card. Buyers select a stadium sector, seats are assigned automatically, and up to five tickets can be purchased from a single account. In other words, when it comes to organizing a festive concert, the state is capable of implementing modern digital technologies, online payments, and automated systems. This raises an entirely legitimate question: If Turkmenistan can organize the online purchase of concert tickets, why can it not organize basic document services for its own citizens? You Can Buy a Ticket — But Obtaining a Passport Is a Problem In many countries around the world, a significant part of consular and administrative procedures can already be initiated remotely: applications can be completed online, appointments can be booked electronically, necessary information can be submitted, and the status of an application can be tracked. Yet Turkmen citizens living abroad continue to face serious difficulties in obtaining or replacing passports through Turkmenistan’s diplomatic missions. This is not merely a question of convenience. A passport is not a concert ticket. It is a fundamental identity and travel document. Without valid documents, a citizen abroad can find themselves trapped in legal uncertainty. Problems may arise with legal residency, employment, education, freedom of movement, family life, and the exercise of other fundamental rights. The state itself demonstrates that it possesses the technical capacity for digitalization. Why, then, does digitalization work for selling concert tickets but fail where a person’s future may depend on obtaining a document? A Festive Showcase and the Reality of Everyday Life There is another contrast that is impossible to ignore. On one side are a huge stadium, festive events, international stars, and the image of a modern and prosperous Ashgabat. On the other are Turkmenistan’s villages and smaller towns, where the everyday reality of many families looks very different. Low wages. Meagre pensions. Inadequate child benefits. Families forced to economize even on basic necessities. Parents who leave the country to seek work abroad because they cannot earn enough at home to provide their children with a decent standard of living. And children who spend months or even years without the daily presence and care of their parents — not because their parents wanted to leave them behind, but because economic hardship forced them to seek a livelihood outside the country. This raises another important question: How will news of expensive festive concerts be received by those who have to count every manat they spend on food, medicine, clothing, and their children’s basic needs? What does a pensioner think when their pension barely covers essential expenses? What does a worker think when their salary is insufficient to support a family? And how does a child feel when their parents are thousands of kilometres away because they could not earn enough at home to provide for them? The Issue Is Not Music The concert itself is not the problem. People need music, culture, recreation, and celebrations. These are normal and valuable parts of life in any society. The issue is one of state priorities. Before showcasing lavish celebrations, a state should ensure that its citizens have the basic conditions necessary for a dignified life. A person should be able to obtain a passport. A working person should be able to support their family. A pensioner should be able to live with dignity on their pension. Families with children should receive meaningful, rather than merely symbolic, social support. Parents should not be forced to leave their children and travel abroad simply because wages at home are insufficient to support a family. Digitalization Should Serve People First The online ticketing system for this concert illustrates one simple fact very clearly: The technical capacity exists. If a digital system can be created to sell tickets, process bank-card payments, automatically allocate seats, and maintain electronic records of purchases, then modern electronic systems can also be introduced for essential public services. The issue, therefore, is no longer simply about technology. It is about priorities. Why can a ticket to a festive concert be purchased online while resolving a citizen’s vital documentation needs can become a problem lasting for years? Why, behind the festive image, are pensioners, low-income families, residents of villages and smaller towns, migrant workers, and children growing up far from their parents so easily overlooked? A modern state should not be measured by the number of international stars it invites or by the scale of its festive concerts. It should be measured by how well it protects and serves ordinary people. Digitalization should not end where ticket sales end. And celebrations should not become a glittering showcase behind which poverty, social inequality, and the unresolved problems of the country’s own citizens remain invisible.