Gas talks between Turkmenistan and Russia took another twist on Thursday as Ashgabat announced that it would cut off gas deliveries from September after negotiations to reach a new price deal collapsed, Reuters reported. The failure of these talks bodes ill for Europe, whose gas supplies rely to a great deal upon the Turkmen […]
As anticipated in yesterday’s Turkmen Helsinki Foundation press release, the authorities in Ashgabat are seeking to characterise one of the arrested human rights workers, now subject of an Amnesty appeal, as a traitor to the motherland. In a June 19 broadcast on Turkmen State television, National Security Minister Geldimuhammed Asyrmuhammedov announced that an individual […]
According to a Turkmen Helsinki Foundation press release reproduced on the opposition Watan.ru website, the Turkmen authorities have detained a Radion Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist and a human rights worker, Ogulsapar Muradova and Annakurban Amanklychev respectively. The detentions took place after extensive surveillance, including physical intimidation and phone-tapping, was carried out on the […]
The Interfax Central Asia General Newswire reports that Turkmen president Saparmurat Niyazov announced on Thursday that he intends to seal a large contract for gas supply with Russian gas monopoly Gazprom. In an announcement on state Turkmen television Niyazov remarked that
“Over the next few days a Russian delegation will arrive in Turkmenistan to sign […]
What follows below is the translation of an article by Resul Bekhan that first appeared in Russian in Oasis, an online publication focussing on Central Asian affairs. It is a little wandering, although there are some interesting points of speculation on relations between Iran and Turkmenistan and the consequences that further U.S. military intervention […]
The Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov may have finally lost his patience with plans being made for his country behind his back. According to a BBC Monitoring transcript of a state television report, on June 14 Niyazov criticised the European Union in failing to consult with his government over the construction of a gas pipeline […]
“What is elsewhere a riot of discord is here a device for registering unanimity. In other countries the sovereign electors choose their own governors. In Russia they ratify their governors’ choice”.
This remark was made by H.N. Brasilford in his book How the Soviets Work in 1927, but there is every reason to suspect that […]
