
Latest Articles about Turkmenistan

Mission Mostly Accomplished: China’s Energy Trade and Investment Along the Silk Road Economic Belt
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s efforts to build the Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB)—a network of transportation infrastructure across Eurasia—are unlikely to drive a step change in China’s energy trade with and investment in Central Asia. This is not only because of the already robust energy... MORE

Future Scenarios on the New Silk Road: Security, Strategy and the SCO
Chinese President Xi Jinping launched the “Silk Road Economic Belt” in a “historic” speech at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan in the week before the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Kyrgyzstan in September 2013. The initiative was viewed by the rest of the region mostly... MORE

Amid Rising Regional Tensions, Turkmenistan Reevaluates Neutrality Policy
For the last two decades, Turkmenistan has adhered to a foreign policy of strict neutrality. But the drawdown, in neighboring Afghanistan, of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission has coincided with the appearance of Islamic State (IS) militants in that war-torn country. The two... MORE

Turkmenistan, Turkey and Azerbaijan: A Trilateral Energy Strategy?
Following the recent (March 4) visit to Ankara by his counterpart from Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a trilateral mechanism on energy issues between Turkey, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. He specifically noted that the three countries share a vision of transferring Turkmenistani... MORE

Unpublished Census Provides Rare and Unvarnished Look at Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan is perhaps the most opaque country of all the post-Soviet states, with the government exercising tight control over almost all information and publishing only those statistical figures that serve Ashgabat’s interests. That makes the results of a census conducted in December 2012 especially interesting... MORE

Regional Problems Ultimately Trump Ukraine as Defining Issue in Central Asia
Following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its intervention in other parts of Ukraine, many in Central Asia and beyond concluded that the foreign and domestic policies of the five Central Asian countries would be radically and irreversibly changed by those events. Some saw Moscow’s actions... MORE

Turkmenistan Becoming Regional Railway Hub
Buoyed by its rising hydrocarbon revenues, Turkmenistan is using some of that income to reduce its geographical isolation by upgrading and expanding its railway network while linking it to those of its neighbors. The most recent development is an Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan railroad, scheduled to be inaugurated... MORE

Central Asians in Syria and Ukraine: Which is the Greater Threat?
Since Russia’s “annexation” of Crimea and the start of the Russia-backed “rebellion” in Donbas (eastern Ukrainian region encompassing Donetsk and Luhansk provinces), Central Asian countries have become concerned about their citizens joining the pro-Russia forces in Ukraine as “mercenaries.” Prior to the Ukraine crisis, the... MORE

Seoul Seeks Central Asian Partners
During her week-long visit last month (June 2014) to Central Asia, South Korean President Park Geun-hye made further progress in advancing her “Eurasia Initiative,” which she announced in October 2013. The Initiative aims to deepen South Korean ties with Europe through Russia, China and Central... MORE

Russia Convinces ‘Caspian Five’ to Bar Foreign Militaries From the Caspian
Russia’s March 17 annexation of Crimea dramatically shifted the Black Sea’s naval balance of power, as Russia appropriated most of the Ukrainian navy’s vessels and equipment, and absorbed Sevastopol. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the United States made some symbolic remonstrations by sending... MORE