Tag Archives: Turkmenistan

Turkmen President wants TAPI work to begin

OCT. 16 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov once again said he wanted work to begin on building a gas pipeline running across Afghanistan to Pakistan and India by 2015, media reported. The so-called TAPI pipeline is a major project designed to feed gas to India and Pakistan and give economic security to Afghanistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 205, published on Oct. 22 2014)

Turkmen increases energy ambitions

OCT. 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan said it wants to increase its client base for gas supplies, media reported. Turkmenistan’s president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said he had instructed officials to seek out more clients. Turkmenistan has transformed itself from recluse to major energy hub over the past decade.

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(News report from Issue No. 205, published on Oct. 22 2014)

Turkmenistan strengthens border

OCT. 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – It appears from news reports that Turkmenistan is continuing to bolster its defences against possible Taliban attacks. The US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said that its correspondent in northern Afghanistan had reported construction work along the border.

“A source for Azatlyk (RFE/RL’s local service) in northern Afghanistan said Turkmenistan has increased its troop strength in several places along the border with Afghanistan recently and in the area where three of Turkmenistan’s border guards were killed in February the border guards have been replaced by spetsnazi, elite commandos,” RFE/RL reported.

“The source added that some areas now have fences, three rows deep, blocking access from the Afghan side.”

Central Asian countries have previously voiced concern that the Taliban would spread northwards after NATO had withdrawn.

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(News report from Issue No. 204, published on Oct. 15 2014)

Turkmenistan to raise electricity exports to Iran

OCT. 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – As well as boosting gas exports to neighbouring Iran, Turkmenistan now wants to increase electricity supplies. Under President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, Turkmenistan has become a major energy exporter across the Middle East. Earlier this year it agreed to boost gas supplies to Iran.

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(News report from Issue No. 204, published on Oct. 15 2014)

Afghanistan’s new president looks to Central Asia

BISHKEK/Kyrgyzstan, OCT. 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Ashraf Ghani, Afghanistan’s new president is on a mission to transform his war-torn country with a shredded economy into a regional force. If he is successful, Central Asia may find in its southern neighbour a strong trading partner and occasional rival rather than the Taliban-tainted bogeyman regional governments have traditionally portrayed it as.

Central Asia’s security-first approach to Afghanistan is understandable. Both Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have had to deal with Islamic extremists linked to the Taliban and other Afghan militants. Neutral Turkmenistan is also taking a newly assertive stance towards events in Afghanistan. Turkmen forces were reported as entering Afghan territory to beat back Taliban that had settled on the two countries’ border (Sept 17).

But Central Asia’s economic ties to Afghanistan are expanding. The long-stalled Turkmenistan- Afghanistan-Tajikistan rail link, which will eventually connect the country to China, looks increasingly likely to happen, while Turkmen gas may one day transit Afghanistan on its way to China.

Mr Ghani is keen to see Afghanistan as a player. His stated ambition to turn the country into an exporter of electricity may make Kabul a rival to both Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The revival of Afghan agriculture may put pressure on scarce regional energy resources.

It is perhaps noteworthy that upon receiving notes of congratulations from all five Central Asian presidents following his inauguration, Mr Ghani’s warmest words were for Kazakhstan and Nursultan Nazarbayev (Sept.29). “Kazakhstan is an important friend and positive example,” he told Kazakh foreign minister Erlan Idrissov at his inauguration.

If Mr Ghani can take Afghanistan on a similar journey, then the country will be ready to both compete and cooperate with Central Asia.

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(News report from Issue No. 203, published on Oct. 8 2014)

Turkmenistan to boost electricity exports to Iran

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(News report from Issue No. 203, published on Oct. 8 2014)

Turkmen President talks up Caspian Sea pipeline

OCT. 2 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan’s president Kurgbanguly Berdymukhamedov ended a meeting of the leaders of the countries that border the Caspian Sea by saying that it was their right to build a pipeline across the inland water, media reported.

The meeting — which included the leaders of Russia, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Iran and Azerbaijan — broke up without any major deals although they did agree not to allow NATO forces into the region.

Perhaps the most important single element of the meeting, though, were reports from Astrakhan, the venue in Russia for the meeting, that appeared to push the possibility of a sub-Caspian Sea gas pipeline nearer.

This has been touted before but has never been put into action. The cost has previously been considered too great but now, with demand for energy increasing from Europe, it may make business sense to build the pipeline.

There is also the extra added consideration that most of the infrastructure needed to pump the gas on from Azerbaijan to Europe has already been built or is scheduled to be built soon.

This week Azerbaijan’s president welcomed the deputy PM of Turkmenistan to Baku. Last week the head of Azerbaijan’s energy company SOCAR was in Ashgabat. There may be some reason behind all this activity. One to watch.

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(News report from Issue No. 203, published on Oct. 8 2014)

Turkmenistan appoints envoy to Poland

OCT. 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan appointed its first ambassador to Poland. Toyly Atayev, already the Turkmen ambassador in Berlin, will cover both Germany and Poland. The decision to appoint an official ambassador to Poland, even if he is based in Berlin, perhaps shows that Turkmenistan is eager to boost its diplomatic reach.

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(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)

Azerbaijani visit to Turkmenistan

SEPT. 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – On a trip to Ashgabat, the head of the Azerbaijani state energy company SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev met with Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, media reported. The visit was rare for a senior Azerbaijani official and, perhaps, indicates the improved relations between the two Caspian Sea states.

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(News report from Issue No. 202, published on Oct. 1 2014)

MTS to set up 3G in Turkmenistan

SEPT. 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian mobile operator MTS said it wants to invest $40m over the next year in setting up 3G mobile services in Turkmenistan. MTS is one of the biggest mobile operators in Central Asia and, as reported, has also recently patched up its differences with Uzbekistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 202, published on Oct. 1 2014)