WAS MOSCOW BEHIND THE ASHGABAT DEMONSTRATIONS?

In theJuly 23-30 Moskovskie novosti, political analyst SanobarShermatova dismisses both the Turkmen government’s suggestionthat the July 12 demonstrations in Ashgabat were the work of drugdealers, and the Turkmen opposition’s suggestion that it was aspontaneous social pressure. Instead, she suggests that the demonstrationwas a covert operation staged by the Russian secret services asa warning to Turkmen president Saparmurad Niyazov who has angeredMoscow by failing to agree to the basing of Russian troops inhis country and by supporting a pipeline to the West through Iranrather than Russia.

Different Yardsticks for Different Peoples.