Russia Set to Toughen Position on Turkmenistan Over Dual Citizenship Dispute

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