APRIL 18 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymkuhamedov travelled to Astana to meet with Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev and sign a deal which they said marked the end of any border disputes between the two neighbours. Both sides said that the deal meant that the borders would now be fixed.
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(News report from Issue No. 325, published on April 17 2017)
BISHKEK, APRIL 16 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Tbilisi, Ashgabat and Bishkek in a three day charm offensive designed to bolster support and trade across a pliant Central Asia and South Caucasus region.
In Ashgabat Mr Zarif met with President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, in Tbilisi he met PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili and President Giorgi Margvelashvili, and in Bishkek he met with Pres. Almazbek Atambayev.
Of all the meetings, perhaps talks with Mr Berdymukhamedov in Ashgabat were the most important. Turkmenistan and Iran had been developing trade intensively until Turkmen officials accused their Iranian counterparts of not paying a $1.8b gas bill. They have said that they will take the case to an international arbitration court unless it is resolved.
Although no mention of the disputed gas bill was made after the meeting in Ashgabat, media did quote Turkmen foreign minister Rasit Meredow as saying that Mr Zarif’s trip was a “big step in political and diplomaticrelations”.
Since some Western sanctions were lifted on Iran last year, the Iranian government has been working to promote its interests in its near abroad. Major inroads have been made in promoting relations in Central Asia/South Caucasus, such as easing visa rules and bilateral investment deals.
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(News report from Issue No. 325, published on April 17 2017)
APRIL 9 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — US golf legend Jack Nicklaus flew to Ashgabat to meet with Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov to update him on progress to the golf course that his company Nicklaus Design is building outside Ashgabat. At the meeting, official media said that the two men exchanged views on the state of golf around the world. In an interview with the AP news agency last year, Mr Nicklaus said that he had signed up to build two golf courses in Turkmenistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)
APRIL 6 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — In the first quarter of 2017, Turkmenistan produced 6.2% more electricity than the same period in 2016, official media reported by quoting deputy PM Dadebay Amangeldyev. Turkmenistan has been boosting its electricity generation capacity specifically with an eye on exports to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)
MARCH 31 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Turkmen government has ordered shopkeepers to raise their prices by 20%, as a kind of unofficial tax to help the state pay for the Asian Indoor and Martial Art Games which it is hosting later this year, the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty website reported. It quoted an opposition website and also ordinary people from Ashgabat as saying prices had risen by between 20% and 50% this year on various foodstuffs.
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(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)
MARCH 28 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenian PM Karen Karapetyan flew to Ashgabat for a meeting with Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, his first visit to Turkmenistan since taking on the premiership in September last year. According to reports from the meeting, he pledged to boost bilateral cooperation.
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(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)
MARCH 30 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov officially opened a $1b Belarussian-built potash plant which he hopes will help transform the country’s economy away from near total dependence on gas exports.
Commissioned in 2010 and delayed by a couple of years, the Garlyk potash plant has been held up as a shining example of a strong Belarus-Turkmenistan partnership. The plant was built by Belarussia’s Belgorkhimprom.
For Belarussia, and Belarussian president Alexander Lukashenko was also at the officially opening of the plant, construction of the factory was a chance to show off its expertise and know-how. For Turkmenistan, it signalled a great push by Mr Berdymukhamedov to try to capture a slice of the lucrative fertiliser market in China and India.
At a series of meetings before and after the opening of the potash plant, Mr Berdymukhamedov and Mr Lukashenko reaffirmed trade and partnership commitments towards one another.
Mr Lukashenko also said that there had been talk of Belarus helping Turkmenistan develop its textile industries. Belarus is heavily industrialised but also retains a significant agricultural base, including one of the world’s biggest fertiliser producers.
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(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)
MARCH 27 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov criticised Turkmenistan Airlines for what he said was the sluggish pace of development of its domestic air routes. In 2015, Mr Berdymukhamedov had ordered the airline to improve its domestic routes.
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(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)
APRIL 5 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov sacked the experienced Yashigeldy Kakayev as deputy PM responsible for overseeing the oil and gas sector, perhaps the most important position in his administration, for “shortcomings”, state media reported.
In his place, Mr Berdymukhamedov promoted Maksat Babayev, who was appointed to head Turkmengaz in January.
Mr Berdymukhamedov is all- powerful and although he spoon- feeds ordinary Turkmen with data that suggests the economy is running smoothly, anecdotal evidence suggests otherwise.
He also appears to need to protect himself from any culpability for Turkmenistan’s economic problems, linked to a sharp fall in the price of gas – its main revenue earner. This means he has to shift blame onto his ministers and senior officials who he appoints and fires with increasingly regularity.
Mr Kakayev had been appointed energy minister under very similar circumstances in 2015 when his predecessor was also sacked for “shortcomings”.
In the cabinet reshuffle, Mr Berdymukhamedov also fired deputy PM in charge of agriculture, Redjep Bazarov.
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(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)
MARCH 26 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan’s President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov apparently ordered a redesign of the official mascot of the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, a shepherd’s dog named Wepaly, that Ashgabat is hosting in September after deciding that it gave out the wrong image.
Only two weeks after his official introduction as the mascot of the Games, the green dog with the face tattoo and the slightly confused, baffled look has been replaced by a white eager-looking dog wearing a traditional sheepskin hat.
In a long explanation of the new Wepaly’s attributes released on a state-run website, an official wrote that the alabai dog had been chosen as the Games’ mascot because it had always been man’s best friend, standing guard over flocks of sheep and homes.
“Wepaly is sincere, fair, acts decisively and always overcomes the enemy. He is a brave, strong-willed, fearless character and will be an inspiring example for the triumphs of Turkmen athletes,” the state-run news agency wrote. Wepaly means true in Turkmen. Wepaly is then shown playing a series of sports from chess to Thai boxing to football.
The Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games is the opportunity that President Berdymukhamedov has been looking for to showcase Turkmenistan. Sports events are increasingly used by leaders in Central Asia and the South Caucasus. Azerbaijan has hosted the inaugural European Games, will stage its second F1 Grand Prix later this year and has been chosen to hold matches for the 2020 European football championships.
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(News report from Issue No. 322, published on March 27 2017)