Russian President Vladimir Putin is a judo black belt who likes to shoot a dagger-eyed stare at underlings who vex him. But it seems that the Kremlin’s resident tough guy is in the process of getting drilled by a certain dentist from Turkmenistan.
On March 11, Putin huddled on the phone with Turkmenistan’s leader, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov to examine the general state of bilateral relations. According to the Russian presidential website, Putin paid “special attention … to the situation concerning people with dual-citizenship [in Turkmenistan].”
As Turkmenophiles well know, tens of thousands of Turkmen citizens also hold Russian passports thanks to a 1993 dual-citizenship agreement. So it’s no surprise that Putin is interested in the issue. Turkmenistan over the years has made life difficult for its Russian “dual” citizens, and Turkmen officials have periodically made attempts to terminate the practice, including a major push a decade ago.
Late in 2012, Turkmen leaders again sent signals that they are thinking about doing away with dual citizenship. Specifically, a question that was part of the country’s census asked respondents to state a preferred citizenship. There’s little doubt that Putin, in raising the issue with Berdymukhamedov on March 11, flexed his muscles and tried to use all powers of persuasion to get Ashgabat to ease up on Russian passport holders.
