Turkmenistan's Move to Eliminate Dual Citizenship Creates Political Problems for Russian President

Rancorous rhetoric between Russia and Turkmenistan is escalating over Ashgabat's swift action to eliminate dual citizenship, a move that could have devastating consequences for potentially tens of thousands of Russians and Russian-speakers. The Turkmen Foreign Ministry fired the latest salvo in the dispute, accusing Russian leaders of engineering a mass media campaign designed to discredit Turkmenistan.

In late May, Dmitry Rogozin, the chairman of the Russian parliament's Foreign Relations Committee, condemned Turkmen strongman Saparmurat Niyazov for planning "the mass deportation" of Turkmenistan's Russian population – a reference to an April 22 decree that unilaterally rescinded a Turkmen-Russian agreement on dual citizenship. Rogozin also alleged during an interview broadcast on the Russian NTV television channel that Turkmen officials were involved in drug trafficking and had supported Afghanistan's former rulers, the radical Islamic Taliban movement.

If intelligence that Ashgabat has supported "international terrorism" proved to be accurate, Rogozin told NTV that Niyazov's "regime should be isolated by the international community." Later reports by NTV provided additional information on alleged misdeed committed by Turkmen officials.

Rogozin's comments and the subsequent NTV reports provoked a fierce response from the Turkmen Foreign Ministry. A May 30 statement said some Russian mass media outlets were attempting "to delude public opinion by disseminating false inventions about the situation in Turkmenistan."

"Some representatives of state organs of Russia have also turned out to be involved in this unseemly act," the Turkmen Foreign Ministry statement continued. The statement demanded that Moscow "bring to book" those responsible for the NTV reports on Turkmenistan. "If the competent authorities are not able to ensure the execution of laws within their state [Russia], then a question arises about their ability to ensure state authority in the country at all," the statement said.

The seeds for the existing row were sown just under two months ago, when Niyazov and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Moscow to seal a gas deal, which at the time was hailed as a breakthrough in bilateral commercial relations. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. During their April summit, Niyazov reportedly obtained Putin's consent to rescind a dual-citizenship agreement.

Putin's concurrence provoked a political storm in Russia that has yet to subside. It appears Russian leaders were caught off guard by the speed with which Niyazov moved to eliminate dual citizenship – a move that affects mostly Russians and Russian-speakers, who must choose their single citizenship by June 22. "The Kremlin simply didn't expect such swiftness from its Turkmen partner," political analyst Vitaly Portnikov said in a commentary published in the Vremya MN daily.

With the deadline looming, those in Turkmenistan who opt for a Russian passport could end up forfeiting their homes and other property, as, under Turkmen law, only Turkmen citizens have the right to own real estate. According to Russian press reports, prices for apartments in Ashgabat have already dropped threefold. At the same time, those who decide to retain Turkmen passports will not be able to travel to Russia freely since Turkmen nationals now need to obtain an exit visa to leave the country. "The way Russians are being treated [in Turkmenistan] is a real tragedy," said Sergei Kamenev, a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Oriental Studies in Moscow.

Popular outrage in Russia has Putin's administration on the defensive. Some have accused Putin of "swapping 150,000 co-nationals for gas." Others say Putin's actions are perceived across the former Soviet Union as a betrayal on Moscow's part. "With the parliamentary and presidential elections coming soon, both the president [Putin] and the