Gas-rich Turkmenistan pardoned 1,636 convicts ahead of a celebration of the country's independence day, official media in the authoritarian Central Asian state reported Thursday. Government newspaper Neutral Turkmenistan said the convicts had been pardoned by autocrat leader Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov "with a view to further strengthening the unity and cohesion of Turkmen society and each family". An unknown number of foreigners were also released as part of the amnesty, the newspaper said.