OCT. 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan’s government issued a rare statement denying a claim by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev that he was aware of what he described as “incidences” on the Turkmen-Afghan border. Turkmenistan said Mr Nazarbayev’s claim was “untrue” and “incomprehensible”. Taliban activity has been increasing along the border with Turkmenistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 253, published on Oct.16 2015)
OCT. 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The US started construction work on a new $266m embassy complex in Ashgabat that it said showed its commitment to Turkmenistan, which holds the world’s fourth largest gas reserves and shares a border with Iran.
The new ambassadorial compound will open in 2018 and will feature various energy saving devices and a school, a US embassy press release said.
Over the past decade, the US has invested heavily in its embassies, generally building them on fortress-like campuses with high-walls on the outskirts of capitals.
Critics of the new embassies say that it cuts US diplomats off from the countries they are trying to engage with and also looks defensive.
And this new embassy appears to fit the specs for these new designs. It is a giant campus hosting many of the facilities that embassy staff need.
The suspicion is, that with fighting along the Turkmen-Afghan border worsening, security may actually have been the major driver in rebuilding the US embassy in Ashgabat.
Still, during the groundbreaking ceremony US ambassador to Turkmenistan, Allan Mustard, was full of warm words about his hosts.
“Our decision to build a new, bigger embassy here is symbolic. The new embassy compound is an indication of our enduring commitment to Turkmenistan,” he said.
“This compound will welcome families and strengthen our partnership with the school, the broader community, and the people of Turkmenistan as a whole.”
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(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)
OCT. 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Turkmen state-owned natural gas company Turkmengaz terminated an engineering contract with Orgregionproyekt, a Russian company, signed in 2011, local media reported. It’s unclear if the cancelled contract was linked to the economy or not.
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(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)
OCT. 7/8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov paid an official visit to Uzbekistan where he discussed security and water scarcity issues with Uzbek President Islam Karimov. An increase in fighting in Afghanistan has become a major concern for the two leaders.
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(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)
OCT. 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — London-listed Graphene Nanochem secured a service supply contract with Malaysia’s Scomi Oiltools, for $384,000 to help drill oil wells in Turkmenistan. Graphene Nanochem has been working in Turkmenistan for a few years.
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(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)
OCT. 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia and the US are right to be increasingly concerned about intensifying fighting in northern Afghanistan.
The question is what can they do about it, if anything?
This week, Russia said it was sending a batch of attack helicopters to its base in Tajikistan. Russia is clearly in a belligerent mood, as its air strikes in Syria have also shown.
For most ordinary Tajiks, as the Bulletin reports, the attack helicopters are welcome in the country, although it is not entirely clear when Russia would actually use them.
For the US, the priority is to protect its own. It has said it is going to spend $200m strengthening its embassy in Turkmenistan.
No doubt the current embassy needed an upgrade but don’t be fooled by the cleverly spun press releases.
The US is not spending $200m rebuilding its embassy to re-affirm its commitment to Turkmenistan. It is spending $200m rebuilding its embassy on the outskirts of Ashgabat because it is nervous and the strategy now is to prioritise protection over everything else. This will be an embassy with big walls and prison-style security cut off from the rest of Turkmenistan.
Both the Russian and the US moves are a response to the Taliban threat over the border and the radical Islamic threat internally.
These threats appear to be growing, although there is debate over just how strong IS recruitment really is in the region. Both Russia and the US and the rest of Central Asia will have to get used to them.
By James Kilner, Editor, The Conway Bulletin
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(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)
OCT. 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan’s president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov reshuffled his top security officials, according to state media. Begench Gundogdiyev, minister of defence, was demoted to head of the navy. The head of the national security service, Yaylym Berdiyev was appointed as the new defence minister.
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(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)
SEPT. 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen president Kuyrbanguly Berdymukhamedov is a man of many achievements. Not only is he a self- styled father figure for the Turkmen people but he is also a champion jockey and a leading intellectual.
Now, is appears, that he can add to this list the status of feted international botanist.
Official Turkmen media reported that at a book fair in Ashgabat, South Korean diplomats praised Mr Berdymukhamedov, a dentist by training, for producing a third volume of his book ‘Medical plants of Turkmenistan’.
Like the first two volumes of ‘Medical plants of Turkmenistan’ this book has already been translated into Korean and distributed to libraries around the country, South Korean diplomats were quoted as saying.
And the Turkmen media had more.
“Speakers at the presentation emphasised the importance of research work by the head of the Turkmen State into healing properties of plants,” it reported, adding that Mr Berdymukhamedov’s research had been translated dozens of times.
As well as the research, there may, of course be another reason for the South Korean interest in Mr Berdymukhamedov’s books. South Korean is an important investor in Turkmenistan’s economy.
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(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)
SEPT. 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A website run by Turkmen opposition activists living in exile said the plane belonging to Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov had stopped off in Munich on its way to New York for the UN General Assembly meeting. The website speculated that he may have stopped off to visit a personal doctor.
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(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)
OCT. 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A joint European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and EU project will make 2.5m euros available to small and medium sized enterprises in Turkmenistan. The project will run for three years and give Turkmen SMEs access to business advisers as well as funds.
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(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)