Population: 4.88 million
Ethnic Composition:
85% Turkmen, 5% Uzbek, 4% Russian, 6% other
Religion: 89% Muslim, 9% Eastern Orthodox, 2% other
Jewish population: 700-1,200
2009 Aliyah
(emigration to Israel): 53
1989-2006 Aliyah: 2,739
Size: 499,100 sq km
Capital: Ashgabat
Major cities: Ashgabat, Turkmenabat, Dashoguz, Mary, Turkmenbashi (former Krasnovodsk)
Freedom House Rating:
Not Free
Currency: 14,250 manat = $1
GDP: $29.16 billion (2008 est.)
GDP per capita: $6,500 (2008 est.)
GDP Growth: 9.8% (2008 IMF est.)
Head of State & Head of Government:
President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov
Foreign Minister:
Rashid Meredov
Ambassador to United States:
Meret Orazov
U.S. Ambassador to Turkmenistan: Robert Patterson
Chronology of all U.S. envoys to Turkmenistan
SUMMARY
The unexpected death from heart failure in December 2006 of Turkmenistan’s notorious leader Saparmurat Niyazov – who had ruled this remote desert country for 21 years, as its Soviet Community Party boss, first elected president, and finally as its increasingly megalomaniacal and repressive President-For-Life – closed an unlamented chapter in Turkmenistan’s long history and opened the possibility of change in the most isolated and unreformed former Soviet republic. Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, Deputy Prime Minister since 2001, was quickly named acting president and easily won a February 2007 presidential election widely decried by foreign observers as neither free nor fair. The new president has already announced several modest reforms, but he has also called for continuity in domestic and foreign policy and a gradualist approach to change. He has also reassured Russia, Turkmenistan’s most important economic partner, that existing contracts to supply natural gas will be honored, easing fears of a disruption in energy supplies to Russia and Europe.
Mostly flat desert with limited irrigation, Turkmenistan depends on the development and export of its extensive oil and natural gas reserves, which remain locked into Russian-run distribution systems. Although rising energy prices have reversed its economic ills, its economy remains largely state-run and unreformed, and is hobbled by a continued lack of diversified export routes, widespread domestic poverty, and inadequate investment in education, health care, and job creation.
Officially neutral, Turkmenistan’s foreign relations have been largely determined by developments in the energy sector and by competition among Russia, China, and the West for access to its rich hydrocarbon resources. Turkmenistan’s economy has suffered in the past from the failure of its CIS trading partners to pay their debts. Turkmenistan’s relations with its northern neighbor Uzbekistan have been tense at times, leading to occasional persecution of its Uzbek minority. Its southern borders with Iran and Afghanistan have exposed Turkmenistan to regional issues such as drug and gun smuggling. The United States and Europe appear ready to turn over a new page with Turkmenistan’s new president, and would welcome new export routes for Turkmen gas that would break the current Russian monopoly on its distribution. It remains to be seen if Turkmenistan’s new leaders are willing to explore new strategic relationships beyond their country’s traditional close ties to Russia.
Turkmenistan faces serious challenges from Niyazov’s highly repressive legacy of two decades, including his extensive personality cult and crushing restrictions of basic freedoms, including those of religion, assembly, association, and expression. Other challenges include inflated law enforcement and internal security apparatus, widespread poverty, international isolation, and unresolved regional and transnational disputes, including disputed control of the Caspian Sea.
The Jewish community of Turkmenistan is very small and unorganized. Difficult conditions have resulted in a high rate of Jewish aliyah (emigration to Israel). Short of a radical change of course by the new government, which is considered unlikely at this time, the situation is unlikely to improve.
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TURKMENISTAN
INTRODUCTION
POLITICAL SITUATION
ECONOMIC SITUATION
JEWISH COMMUNAL LIFE & ANTI-SEMITISM
Israel
U.S. POLICY
Slightly larger than California, Turkmenistan occupies the fourth-largest territory in the former Soviet Union, although most of its land is uninhabited desert. Turkmenistan borders Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and the Caspian Sea. Ruled in earlier times by Persian kings, Iranian tribes, successors of Alexander the Great, and Muslim Arabs, the region was conquered by migrating Turks and Mongols during the Middle Ages, following which the ancestors of today’s Turkmen ethnic group established tribal khanates with strong ties to nearby Persia. Turkmen tribes raided trade routes and fiercely opposed later Russian encroachment, but failed to prevent annexation by Tsarist Russia by the late 19th century. Defeating renewed Turkmen resistance, the Red Army occupied the area in 1920 and the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic was declared in 1924. Turkmenistan declared its sovereignty in August 1990 and its independence on October 27, 1991.
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POLITICAL SITUATION
Even after his sudden demise from heart failure in late December 2006, President Niyazov continues to dominate Turkmenistan’s politics. During his 21-year rule, Saparmurat Niyazov remade Turkmenistan – in theory, a constitutional democratic republic – in his image, imposing a pervasive personality cult and a highly repressive and increasingly bizarre authoritarian regime on his isolated subjects. Niyazov (who, beginning in 1994, also styled himself Turkmenbashi, meaning “Father of All Turkmen”) began his rule in 1985, when he was appointed Turkmen Communist Party chief. He was elected president in an unopposed election in 1990, won reelection in 1992, had his term extended in 1994, and finally was made president for life by a handpicked legislature in December 1999. Parliamentary elections held in 1999, 2003, and 2004 were considered neither free nor fair, with all candidates selected by the government and no opposition party or candidates allowed. Starting in 1994, only Niyazov’s Democratic Party of Turkmenistan (DPT), the former Turkmen Communist Party, was permitted to field candidates, and all opposition groups were officially banned. Niyazov’s rule was characterized by a zero-tolerance policy towards all real or suspected opposition activity, and purges of government officials who showed independent or critical views.
Niyazov’s latter rule was marked by increasing tensions in his regime. He survived an apparent assassination attempt in late 2002, which triggered a widespread crackdown against real and perceived critics and oppositionists, and a purge of high-level government and intelligence figures. Its culmination was a Soviet-style show trial of the alleged conspirators, former regime officials turned oppositionists, who confessed on television and were given lengthy prison sentences despite public clamor for their execution. Parliamentary elections in 2003 and in 2004 were closely stage-managed by the government, and Niyazov continued a purge of high-level politicians into 2005, dismissing many and sending some to prison on various charges. Observers speculated that these moves were attempts by Niyazov – whose failing health became the subject of persistent rumors in 2005 – to eliminate potential challengers and deflect popular onto lower-level scapegoats.
At the same time, Niyazov continued to enact increasingly more bizarre edicts, including bans on opera, ballet, and all recorded music, ordering the renaming of weekdays and months of the year after himself and his mother, and making the study of the “Rukhnama” (“Book of the Soul”), a spiritual guidebook he allegedly authored, mandatory in all schools and places of worship, and required reading for state employees. Niyazov built ever more lavish monuments to himself and to his vision of Turkmenistan, spending large amounts of earnings from natural gas exports on such projects as golden statues of himself, artificial lakes and forests, and fountains of sand. By the time he died from heart failure on December 21, 2006, Niyazov was widely described as having fostered the most extreme cult of personality outside of Kim Jong Il’s North Korea, which mirrored Turkmenistan in its poverty and isolation.
Shortly after Niyazov’s death, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, Health Minister since 1997 and Deputy Prime Minister since 2001, was named acting president in a murky transition which saw Parliament Speaker Ovazgeldy Ataev, who should have been named acting president according to the Turkmen constitution, suddenly removed on unspecified criminal charges. After the constitution was hastily amended to allow the acting president to run for president, Berdymukhammedov, a dentist by training but a government bureaucrat by profession, easily won a February 2007 presidential election against five other government-selected candidates that was widely condemned by foreign observers as neither free nor fair. In a clear show of continuity with its recent past, the government immediately announced a turnout of nearly 99 percent, and a win by Berdymukhammedov of nearly 90 percent, figures which were called implausible by foreign diplomats. The new president took office on the next day following elections.
In his inaugural remarks, the new president announced several modest reforms, such as extending mandatory education to 10 years, allowing high school graduates to continue studying at a university (Niyazov had instituted a 2-year work requirement for all high school graduates before continued higher education), and allowing the country’s first Internet cafes to open. More importantly, he called for continuing the course set by Niyazov, proclaiming a gradualist approach to change and rejecting the import of “foreign models of democracy,” dampening hopes of a radical break with the past. He reassured Russia, Turkmenistan’s most important economic partner, that existing contracts to supply natural gas would be honored, easing fears of a disruption in energy supplies to Russia and Europe. Although exiled oppositionists were quick to dismiss Berdymukhammedov as a tool of the Niyazov old guard still running the country, Western leaders appeared willing to encourage the new president’s public mention of reform.
Turkmenistan under Niyazov adopted official neutrality, and did not enjoy close relations with its neighbors. Its isolationist foreign policy has been largely influenced by developments in Turkmenistan’s oil and gas industries and the conflict in neighboring Afghanistan. Disputes have been long-running over the division of Caspian Sea resources and the delineation of the Caspian’s borders among the five littoral states: Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, and Russia. Turkmenistan no longer participates in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) visa regime, which has made travel into and out of Turkmenistan more difficult. Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have had particularly difficult relations due to Niyazov’s accusations of Uzbek complicity in the apparent 2002 assassination attempt against him, persistent water sharing disputes between these two desert countries, and Turkmenistan’s periodic persecution of its Uzbek minority, made suspect to the Niyazov regime by their relatively greater Islamic religiosity and ethnic ties to Uzbekistan.
Although the new Turkmen President has said his country will continue to adhere to its policy of neutrality, some Russian officials after his election criticized the “illusions” of unnamed Central Asian states about their ability to defend their sovereignty by themselves, suggesting that Russia will encourage Turkmenistan to return to Moscow’s sphere of influence not only economically but also politically, including urging Turkmenistan to rejoin the Commonwealth of Independent States as a full member (Turkmenistan downgraded its status to associate membership in 2005).
Constitutionally guaranteed freedoms are denied in practice. Political and civil liberties are severely restricted, and law enforcement corruption is rampant. There is no free press, and freedoms of association, assembly and religion are severely limited. A particularly notorious recent case involved Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Ogulspar Muradova, who was arrested in June 2006 and who died in September 2006 while in jail, possibly as a result of beatings she received in custody. Muradova, a veteran human rights activist, was charged with possessing ammunition, but many believe her real crime was assisting a French journalist filming a documentary on Turkmenistan and her past promotion of human rights. International media and human rights groups condemned her death as an extrajudicial killing, and held Niyazov’s government responsible.
As a self-defined “secular democracy,” Turkmenistan’s burdensome religion law, required a minimum of 500 members for registration in any given locality, subjected religious organizations and communities to intrusive state scrutiny, dissolved minority religious organizations, demolished places of worship, and greatly restricting opportunities for religious education and publishing. As a result of such restrictions, the Turkmen government initially recognized only Sunni Islam and Russian Orthodoxy. Turkmenistan’s anti-religious policy was said to reflect the personal preferences of President Niyazov himself. In 2003, Niyazov signed a law barring all unregistered religious groups from operating in Turkmenistan. Also in 2003, the ethnically Uzbek, long-serving chief mufti of Turkmenistan was removed and sentenced in 2004 to 22 years in prison on unspecified charges, possibly relating to the 2002 assassination attempt on Niyazov. In 2004, possibly due in part to international pressure, President Niyazov reduced the registration minimum to 5 members and allowed the registration of 7 other religious organizations (Islamic and Christian). However, members of Protestant, Jehovah’s Witness, Hare Krishna, and Muslim organizations have all reported official persecution in 2005 and 2006, as have Turkmen who had converted from Islam to other religions. President Niyazov’s insistence that his book “Rukhnama” be featured prominently in places of worship alongside the Koran and the Bible, and that Muslim and Christian clerics quote liberally from it during services, was reported to be particularly offensive to many believers during the last years of his rule.
At this time, there is no Jewish religious organization registered in Turkmenistan. Some observers have described Turkmenistan’s current religious law as a de facto ban on Judaism, since only Christian and Islamic groups have been allowed to register to date.
Despite the absence of a state religion and the relatively low level of religious observance among the population, Islam has become more associated with Turkmen national identity in recent years. Combined with the government’s policy of promoting Turkmen nationalism, this shift has created discomfort for minority groups, including Protestants, Muslim converts to other religions, and Jews.
Turkmenistan’s political infrastructure continues to reflect the centralized arrangements of the Niyazov era. The head of state and the head of government are combined into the same person, while the President is elected by popular vote to a five-year term. The President appoints the cabinet of ministers and serves as its chairman. The 1992 constitution provides for 2 unicameral legislatures, a People’s Council (Halk Maslahaty) of up to 2,500 candidates that meets yearly, and a Parliament (Mejlis) of 50 members elected to five-year terms. Both bodies expect to hold elections in December 2008. All candidates must be members of the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan and, in the past, had to be vetted by the President. The judicial branch is not considered independent and is appointed by the President. No opposition parties are allowed. A special session of the People’s Council, held in late March 2007, elected President Berdymukhammedov as chairman of the Halk Maslahaty, and passed several constitutional amendments increasing presidential powers.
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ECONOMIC SITUATION
Turkmenistan possesses large oil reserves and the world’s fifth-largest natural gas reserves, widely described as the key to the country’s economic future and strategic significance. Although Turkmen territory is mostly desert, intensive agriculture in irrigated oases has made it a leading global exporter of cotton. Turkmenistan has benefited from recent high gas and oil prices, but is still owed large debts by other former Soviet states for past energy exports. The Turkmen government relies on Russian-controlled pipelines for the export of all of its gas. Failure to resolve Caspian seabed and maritime boundaries with other littoral states has diminished Turkmenistan’s ability to exploit nearby Caspian oilfields.
After several years of negotiations, former president Niyazov ultimately rejected U.S.-led proposals for a trans-Caspian gas pipeline that would have broken the existing Russian monopoly on export routes by building a new pipeline under the Caspian Sea towards Azerbaijan and Turkey. In April 2006, during a state visit to Beijing, Niyazov signed a framework agreement with China for the construction of a new export pipeline eastwards to China through Uzbek and Kazakh territory. China’s entry into the Central Asian hydrocarbon market, and continuing Western overtures to Turkmenistan for the construction of western-running pipelines outside of Russian control, will likely concern Russia, which is expected to increase its reliance on relatively cheap Turkmen gas to meet its own energy and export needs, as its domestic energy production declines.
Russian Prime Minister Fradkov met with President Berdymukhammedov the day after his February 2007 inauguration, and both officials reaffirmed Turkmenistan’s commitment to the existing energy export framework. The previous day, the new Turkmen president reportedly had a telephone conversation with Russian President Putin, during which the two leaders were said to have agreed to deepen bilateral ties. Balancing what is expected to become an increasingly sharp competition among the great powers for Turkmenistan’s energy resources has emerged as a major issue for Niyazov’s successors.
Like other Soviet successor states, Turkmenistan’s economy sharply declined following independence, and began to recover only after the resumption of natural gas exports to Russia and Ukraine in the late 1990s. Internal reform and privatization have been largely absent from government policy, producing a struggling and inefficient state-run economy, continued problems with external debt, and very low levels of foreign investment. The state continues to control almost all industry, and has largely failed to attract foreign investment in large enterprises. Unemployment and poverty levels are believed to be very high, even by regional standards; estimated 60 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, and unemployment is said to be growing among young people, who form the majority of the population. Failing to collect adequate tax revenue, the government had relied on a barter system, and was dependent upon international borrowing until rising energy prices—together with multi-year supplier agreements signed with Russia in 2003 and with China in 2006—improved its foreign exchange revenues. However, foreign observers agree that Turkmenistan’s current robust growth and high foreign exchange earnings from oil and gas exports mask a largely unreformed and chronically underperforming economy that has failed to provide adequate opportunities to its people.
Nation-building efforts in the past have focused on promoting Turkmen nationalism and glorifying President Niyazov. The government has shown little interest in entering into a lending arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and has not accepted IMF requirements. Turkmenistan became a member of the Asian Development Bank in 2000, but has yet to receive any significant aid. The World Bank is currently exploring the possibility of starting a small and focused technical assistance program in Turkmenistan, at the request of the authorities. The European Union and United Nations Development Program assist with development projects. Citing a lack of political and economic reforms, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development declared in 2002 that any new investment in Turkmenistan, a member nation, would be dedicated to the private sector only.
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JEWISH COMMUNAL LIFE & ANTI-SEMITISM
Iranian Jews began immigrating to Turkmenistan in the 19th century, and have deep roots in the community, although they comprise only 20 percent of the current Jewish population. Ashkenazi Jews, who form the majority of the local Jewish population, immigrated to Turkmenistan during the Soviet period, especially after World War II. There is also reportedly a small Bukharan Jewish community near the border with Uzbekistan.
The largest Jewish community is found in Ashgabat, with others in Chardzhou and Mary. The community continues to shrink due to steady aliyah and the lack of opportunities at home, and is now estimated to number less than half of the 2,500 Jews listed as living in Turkmenistan in the 1989 Soviet census. There is no organized Jewish community, synagogue, or rabbi, although local Jews are said to gather informally for religious observances. The only synagogue in Turkmenistan was converted into a gymnasium during the Soviet era and has not been restored to its original function. There have been no recent reports of anti-Semitic incidents or harassment. At least some among the Jewish community’s elderly are said to receive intermittent charity and medical help, sent from abroad and distributed by a handful of unofficial local volunteers and activists.
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Israel
Turkmenistan was the last successor state to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, in 1993. The two countries maintain both diplomatic ties and trade relations, although neither country maintains an embassy in the other. Israeli business interests in Turkmenistan include agriculture and oil and natural gas ventures. Israel is represented in Turkmenistan by its embassy in Moscow.
Obtaining an exit visa is difficult for all Turkmen citizens, and Jews must obtain visas through Israel’s embassy in Uzbekistan. While the government does not specifically hinder aliyah (emigration to Israel), family members of a Jewish suspect in the 2002 assassination attempt on Niyazov had their passports confiscated while attempting to emigrate, after being released from prison.
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U.S. POLICY
U.S.-Turkmenistan bilateral relations have been cool, given President Niyazov’s human rights record. After September 11, 2001, U.S.-Turkmen relations warmed as Turkmenistan assumed greater strategic significance. Turkmenistan allowed its territory to be used for humanitarian aid shipments during the war in Afghanistan, while it maintained its official neutrality by refusing to participate militarily. President Niyazov pledged to support U.S. military efforts in Iraq, citing concern about Iraq’s Turkmen minority. Turkmenistan’s greater cooperation may have been related to Western efforts to improve and diversify the regional infrastructure of the Caspian oilfields, and to proposals for new pipelines that could eventually allow Turkmenistan to break Russia’s monopoly on its gas exports. Turkmenistan ultimately refused Western proposals, however, and resisted most other Western advice on restructuring its Soviet-era economy, limiting the role of the United States in its economy.
Overall U.S. assistance to Turkmenistan in FY2006 was estimated at $7.6 million, budgeted for democracy programs, market reform programs, and security and law enforcement programs. Since 1993, the U.S. government has funded the travel of over 1,600 Turkmen citizens to the United States on academic and professional exchange programs. Some 80 Peace Corps Volunteers work throughout Turkmenistan.
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