President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov used his considerable advantages -- total control over the media and all public organizations -- to announce his program in the essentially uncontested presidential elections on February 12.
At a summit meeting in Moscow on December 23, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov were cordial but did not sign any agreements or make any announcements.
President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov is scheduled to travel to Moscow on December 23 to meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, the State News Agency of Turkmenistan (TDH) reported.
US Assistant Secretary of State Robert O. Blake, Jr. quietly visited Ashgabat last week before the conference on Afghanistan in Bonn, in which Turkmenistan also took part.
In a sweeping maneuver on his trip last week to Beijing, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov simultaneously doubled China’s initial purchase order of gas to 65 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year; undercut Russia which has been negotiating to sell gas to China at a higher price; and
The annual Oil and Gas Turkmenistan (OGT) Conference wrapped up November 17, with less people in attendance this year (500) by contrast with last year (700), from energy companies and governments.
President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov made a state visit to Pakistan November 14 and "agreed to expedite energy projects," in the cautious words of Pakistan's The Dawn.
Turkmenistan seemed to come even closer to pledging support for construction of the Trans-Caspian pipeline last week, although it may have been a mirage in the desert still subject to the workings of commissions and committees devising frameworks and formulas.
