The Turkmen authorities are avoiding use of the word “coronavirus” as much as possible in order to deter the spread of information about the pandemic. By doing so, Turkmenistan’s government is putting its citizens in danger, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says. It's as if it had never existed. The state media are saying nothing about the effects of coronavirus in Turkmenistan and the word has even been removed from health information brochures distributed in schools, hospitals and workplaces, according to Turkmenistan Chronicles, one of the few sources of independent news, whose site is blocked within the country. In this information black hole neighbouring Iran, people wearing face masks or talking about the coronavirus on the street, at bus stops or in lines outside shops are liable to be arrested by plainclothes police, according to journalists based in the capital, Ashgabat, who report for Radio Azatlyk, the Turkmen language service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. “The Turkmen authorities have lived…