MARCH 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Iran wants to transport Turkmen gas to a port on the Persian Gulf before shipping on to other clients, Hamidreza Araqi, head of the National Iranian Gas Company told Iran’s state news agency in an interview. Turkmenistan has become an increasingly important regional energy hub over the last few years.
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(News report from Issue No. 175, published on March 12 2014)
MARCH 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — In an echo of the Soviet Union’s efforts to control nature, Turkmenistan’s president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov wants to stop the Amu Darya river freezing over.
According to reports last month, the Turkmen minister for water resources has compiled a report for Mr Berdymukhamedov on how best to stop the mighty Amu Darya, which runs from the Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan through Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan before fading into the desert just short of the Aral Sea, freezing.
The plan has not been revealed.
The Amu Darya river is particularly important to Turkmenistan as it not only supplies 90% of the country’s drinking water but it also irrigates many of its cotton fields.
Reports of a plan to bend Nature to Man’s will smacks of the Soviet Union. It diverted much water from the Amu Dayra and its sister river the Syr Darya river to irrigate the cotton fields. Its plan was to transform the region into a bread and cotton basket.
It managed this, to an extent, but, in the process, also dried out the Aral Sea.
Now the Amu Darya and Syru Darya rivers are a source of regional tension. They provide downstream Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan with drinking water and irrigation and upstream Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan with power.
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(News report from Issue No. 175, published on March 12 2014)
MARCH 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan was due to implement a new law that combats corruption. The law, passed last week by Turkmenistan’s parliament, makes it illegal for civil servants to open foreign bank accounts. Corruption is considered rife in Turkmenistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 175, published on March 12 2014)
MARCH 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmennebit, the Turkmen state-owned energy company, plans to increase exploration in the Caspian Sea after hitting oil in a handful of test wells, media reported. Over the past decade Turkmenistan has turned itself into a regional energy powerhouse.
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(News report from Issue No. 174, published on March 5 2014)
FEB. 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The authorities in Turkmenistan accused Taliban fighters of killing three border guards on the Turkmen-Afghan border, media reported. The Taliban later denied the accusation. Central Asian states are concerned about the spread north of the Taliban once NATO forces leave Afghanistan in 2014.
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(News report from Issue No. 174, published on March 5 2014)
MARCH 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Building an airline with a bold livery and a list of international destinations is a tried and test way of boosting national prestige for emerging countries.
Turkmenistan, is appears, is embracing this tactic.
According to a report on the centralasiaonline.com website, Turkmenistan is eager to boost the presence of Turkmenistan Airlines.
Turkmenistan Airlines now flies to 17 foreign cities. This should increase to 27 by the end of the year, centralasiaonline.com quoted a Turkmenistan Airlines official as saying.
It also plans to boost domestic air travel too. It has bought 20 planes with 100 passenger capacity each to use on domestic routes and ordered five more regional airports to be built.
As well as being a useful way to improve the awareness of your country and to promote a brand, Turkmenistan’s airline extension may have a positive impact on travel for both ordinary people and also for business and investors.
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(News report from Issue No. 174, published on March 5 2014)
FEB. 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Rather unexpectedly, Turkmenistan has been chosen to host a stage of the world windsurfing cup at a resort on the Caspian Sea coast later this year, media reported. The greats of the windsurfing world will gather at the resort of Avaza on July 1-6 for the competition.
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(News report from Issue No. 174, published on March 5 2014)
FEB. 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan has begun constructing a gas chemical complex on the shores of the Caspian Sea, media reported. Turkmenistan has grown wealthy from natural gas sales over the past few years and is trying to boost its domestic industrial base.
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(News report from Issue No. 173, published on Feb. 26 2014)
FEB. 14 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan’s president Kurbangkuly Berdymukhamedov gave amnesty to 859 prisoners to mark State Flag Day. Mr Berdymukhamedov has used presidential amnesties to pardon hundreds of prisoners previously. Turkmenistan is considered one of the most repressive countries in the world.
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(News report from Issue No. 172, published on Feb. 19 2014)
FEB. 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkish economy minister Nihat Zeybekci flew into Ashgabat for talks with Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, underlining the close nature of Turkmenistan-Turkey linked. Turkish construction companies have generally run large projects in Turkmenistan, including the construction of an Olympic village.
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(News report from Issue No. 171, published on Feb. 12 2014)