Turkmenistan Weekly News Analysis

The Turkmen authorities have once again barred students seeking to pursue higher education abroad from leaving the country. The Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights (TIHR) received reports that at the end of August the Immigration office at Ashgabat airport denied exit to several dozen students seeking to study in Bulgaria and St. Petersburg. All of the students are fellows of the TASP program administered by the US Department of State (TASP) and the Open Society Institute (OSI). (Turkmenistan Weekly News Brief is funded by OSI). In July and August of 2009, Turkmen authorities prevented hundreds of students from boarding planes and crossing land borders to depart for studies abroad, claiming that the students did not have appropriate documents to leave the country which included an invitation from the university, a copy of its license, verification of its state-affiliation status, and a copy of the contract between the student and the university. After weeks of uncertainty and intense international pressure, the Turkmen government granted permission to some students to leave, but primarily to those studying at state-run foreign universities. Many students were transferred to different universities and fell behind in their studies. The reasons behind this new travel ban are currently unknown and Migration office at the airport has recommended that the students contact the head of the Migration service in Ashgabat.

Turkmenistan’s former Minister of Tourism and Culture, Geldimyrat Nurmuhammedov, who served in office from 1992 to 1995 and later became a vocal critic of the current government, has been arrested. Last year, in an interview with RFE/RL, Nurmuhammedov harshly criticized Turkmenistan’s government and called the ruling Democratic Party of Turkmenistan illegal. His relatives say that officials have formally declared that he is a drug-addict who must be isolated and are sending him off to a drug-rehabilitation center in the remote Dashoguz province for up to six months. The authorities shut down Nurmuhammedov's private business in the capital following his critical statements.

In a demonstration of warming relations with Moscow, last week, President Berdymukhamedov received Leonid Slutsky, Chairman of the Russian Federation State Duma’s Committee for CIS Affairs and Relations with Compatriots, and Mikhail Krotov, the adviser to the Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, to discuss development of inter-parliamentary relations and Turkmenistan’s presidency of the Commonwealth of Independent States in 2012. Berdymukhamedov also spoke on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin to congratulate him on his birthday and to note that the partnership between Turkmenistan and Russia “is developing in all directions and has a strategic nature.”

Turkmenistan’s gas reserves and petro-wealth has made it an appealing partner to many European countries and on October 8, Berdymukhamedov went to Bern, Switzerland to meet with Swiss President Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf to discuss potential cooperation. Earlier, Berdymukhamedov stopped in Paris to meet with a number of French governmental officials, including the Ministers of Agriculture and Budget; CEOs of major French companies, such as Bouygues, Vinci Grand Live, Total, France Galop, and Cifal; and a member of Qatar’s ruling family of Al-Thani. Germany also made overtures to the Turkmen President with a German delegation, led by the Chairman of the Turkmen-German forum, Klaus Jürgen Hedrich, visiting Ashgabat to meet with members of the National Parliament and representatives of Turkmenistan’s various ministries in order to discuss prospects of Turkmen – German cooperation. Berdymukhamedov received Deutsche Bank AG representatives, including Juergen Fitschen, a member of the management board of Deutsche Bank, and Peter Tils, Chief Executive Officer of the Central and Eastern Europe Department of Deutsche Bank AG, who affirmed Deutsche Bank’s desire to continue and enhance long-term cooperation with Turkmenistan. The German Bosch group of companies presented several projects in Turkmenistan, and German CLAAS supplied the first batch of tractors to Turkmen customers under a contract to supply 500 tractors.

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