Turkmenistan: EU Postpones Trade Agreement Vote over Human Rights Concerns

The European Parliament has postponed indefinitely a vote on an Interim Trade Agreement with Turkmenistan because of a lack of guarantees that human rights can be monitored in the energy-rich state.

The vote, which had been scheduled to take place in Strasbourg on March 26, was derailed after a succession of parliamentary members expressed outrage with Turkmenistan's rights record and accused the European Union of "cynically" pursuing its energy and security agenda at the expense of accountability.

David Martin, a Scottish representative, said Turkmen authorities had so far failed to give the International Red Cross access to prisons, the education system had been reformed to benefit the elite, freedom of movement was still restricted, press freedom was non-existent, and "Turkmenistan has the longest queue of UN-requested visits of any country in the world."

"Is this really a country that we can do business with? Cynics might say that it is because gas and oil have been discovered in Turkmenistan, because we want to build a new pipeline, because we suddenly find it in our strategic interest. If that is the case, let us not pretend it is to do with an improvement in human rights. It is to do with self-interest at a European Union level," he added.

Turkmenistan is the only Central Asian state to not have a formal trade or partnership agreement with the EU.