Further to a lively debate conducted on this site, Dennis de Tray, Country Director of the World Bank for the five Central Asian Republics from 2001 to 2005, has also proffered his position on the proposed EU trading agreement with Turkmenistan. While recognising the merits of engagment he is sceptical about the worth that such an agreement could have for the welfare of Turkmen people:

“I was until recently World Bank director for the five Central Asia ’stans’ (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan). The World Bank had no program in Turkmenistan because we could find no way to do anything remotely positive for its people. Natural gas is important to Europe. But it is the money Mr. Niyazov receives from natural gas sales that keeps him in power. While I am a strong advocate of engagement, in this case the European Parliament should reject Turkmenistan’s ‘most favored nation’ status. If it does not, the EU must accept responsibility for supporting the ongoing destruction of a country and a people.”