EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight - Russia Set to Toughen Position on Turkmenistan Over Dual Citizenship Dispute

EURASIA INSIGHT

RUSSIA SET TO TOUGHEN POSITION ON TURKMENISTAN OVER DUAL CITIZENSHIP DISPUTE
Igor Torbakov 6/17/03

Russian policy makers are growing increasingly vexed by Turkmenistan’s intransigent position on the dual-citizenship issue. Following the breakdown of recent talks, Moscow is refusing to recognize Turkmenistan’s move to rescind a bilateral agreement covering dual citizens. One Russian official has even hinted that Moscow would be justified in seeking "regime change" in Turkmenistan.

Turkmenistan has given its dual nationals until June 22 to select a single citizenship. Current dual citizens, many of whom are ethnic Russians, have expressed concern that they will be deprived of basic rights, including their right to own, or buy and sell property, if they opt for a Russian passport. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The citizenship question has become a major political issue in Russia, where President Vladimir Putin’s administration has come under pressure to take steps to promote the interests of "co-nationals" in Turkmenistan. Accordingly, Russian and Turkmen officials met in Ashgabat on June 6-8 to resolve their differences. Those talks, however, yielded little but frustration for Russia. The divergence of views, some political analysts say, is best illustrated by the vast discrepancy in the number of supposed dual citizens in Turkmenistan. Moscow claims the number is at least 100,000, while Ashgabat argues there are only 47 dual citizens.

The stalemated talks prompted Moscow to finally acknowledge the existence of a serious disagreement with Ashgabat. Turkmenistan’s unilateral withdrawal from a dual-citizenship accord "contradicts mutual agreements and will not be recognized by the Russian side under any circumstances," said Vladimir Kotenev, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Consular Service Department, at a recent news conference in Moscow. Kotenev headed the Russian delegation during the Ashgabat talks.

On June 16, Turkmen leader Saparmurat Niyazov complained to Putin about Russian media coverage of the issue, saying "Russian TV has been consistently � pouring mud on Turkmenistan." Niyazov went on to ask Putin "to put an end to such things," according to a report broadcast by Turkmen state television. The report added that Niyazov ordered the creation of a "special commission to discuss the issue with the Russian side." Political analysts in Moscow believe Niyazov at the present time is disinclined to make concessions to Moscow.

Russian Foreign Ministry officials have sought to calm domestic public opinion, saying that they expected "nothing extraordinary" to happen after June 22. At the same time, they have acknowledged that the number of Russians in Turkmenistan seeking to immigrate to Russia "is growing sharply." Russian human rights activists are more apprehensive about possible discrimination against those who opt for Russian citizenship. "[Saparmurat] Niyazov conducts a policy of isolation and views these [Russian] citizens as a threat to his country," the Izvestiya daily quoted Vitaly Ponomarev of the Moscow-based Memorial human rights organization as saying.

Kotenev’s statement provided the first official sign of the Putin administration’s displeasure. At the same time, Putin appears intent to step up pressure on Ashgabat. An indicator of a hardening Kremlin line is recent comments by Putin allies in the Russian parliament. Dmitry Rogozin, the chairman of the Duma’s Foreign Relations Committee, has announced that his committee is continuing to investigate the Turkmen leadership’s alleged ties to drug traffickers and international terrorists. Rogozin confirmed that hearings are scheduled for late June.

Meanwhile, Vyacheslav Igrunov, deputy chairman of the Duma’s Committee on CIS Affairs, told the Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily that Russia had an obligation to intervene in Turkmen affairs, citing human rights concerns. "Responsibility for human rights protection falls to the international community and Russia, being a member of this community, is undoubtedly obliged to defend human rights in any corner of the globe, including in Turkmenistan," Igrunov said.

Significantly, Igrunov drew comparisons between the Russian-Turkmen dispute and the US-led ouster of Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq. Igrunov argued that the real cause for the US-led invasion was the repressive nature of Saddam’s rule, and not Iraq’s alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction. Inferring that Niyazov’s rule in Ashgabat is just as repressive as Saddam’s was in Baghdad, Igrunov asserted that Moscow has "no less solid grounds than those Washington had prior to the beginning of the Iraq war" to promote regime change in Turkmenistan.

Some Russian commentators predict that Putin will soon speak publicly on the dual-citizenship issue. A tough stance against Niyazov, argues political commentator Anatoly Mostovoy, would be a popular political move that could enhance Putin’s reelection chances in 2004. Mostovoy also suggested that the Bush administration would sanction a hard-line approach by Moscow because Washington also perceives Niyazov to be an unpredictable dictator who potentially threatens stability in Central Asia.

Editor�s Note: Igor Torbakov is a freelance journalist and researcher who specializes in CIS political affairs. He holds an MA in History from Moscow State University and a PhD from the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. He was Research Scholar at the Institute of Russian History, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow; a Visiting Scholar at the Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington DC; a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University, New York; and a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University. He is now based in Istanbul, Turkey.

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