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 with close ties to the exiled opposition was found with arms and ammunition in his car. The person was named as Annakurban Amanklychev, who Asyrmuhammedov accused of being “a traitor to the motherland” that wished to create a climate of chaos in the country.
In the televised broadcast of the meeting of law-enforcement bodies overseen by President Saparmurat Niyazov, Asyrmuhammedov also explained that Amanklychev had been plotting to plan subversive activities in collaboration with anti-government forces:

“It [has been revealed] that he has been in contact with Nurmuhammed Hanamov [Chairman of the opposition Republican Party of Turkmenistan], Hudayberdy Orazov [Turkmen opposition leader], Parahat Yklymov, Avdy Kulyyev [opposition leader], Annadurdy Hajyyev [former deputy chairman of the Turkmen central bank] and Tajigul Begmedova [Chairwoman of the Turkmen Helsinki Foundation and Hajyyev’s wife]. These people have been put on the wanted list of local law-enforcement bodies and the Interpol. He was being specially trained to incite disruption across the country.

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Hajyyew and Begmedova also invited Amangylyjow to visit the Ukraine in order to train him in intelligence gathering and sabotage in Turkmenistan, as well as in the methods used in the ‘orange revolution’ in Ukraine.”

References to “orange revolution” strategies may possibly be designed to anticipate any prospective disturbances before the upcoming local elections planned for 23 July. As noted earlier on this site, Hudayberdy Orazov and Nurmuhammed Hanamov surprised many people when they expressed willingness for their parties to take part in the electoral process, though this is obviously not a likely contingency. The Turkmen government’s wish to anticipate any manifestation of public discontent or any form organised dissent appears to have formalised by this latest wave of arrests.
The events of the last few days also bear worrying implications for the international diplomatic community in Ashgabat. As Agence France Presse reports, a French embassy employee and an OSCE representative were accused on Monday of being involved in spying activities designed to undermine the Turkmen government. In the television announcement on Monday, Asyrmuhammedov made the following announcement:

“A cultural attaché to the French embassy, Henri Tomassini, and an employee of the [Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe] mission, Benjamin Moro, are suspected of illegal activities directed against Turkmenistan.

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[Tomassini] handed over secret video equipment to Turkmen citizen Annakurban Amangylydzhov with the covert aim of videoing a simulated meeting of dissatisfied people, prisons, military buildings and law enforcement officers.”

NewsCentralAsia also details the fact that BBC journalist Lucy Ash was among those foreign nationals being accused of giving assistance to Amanklychev. Ash made a programme about Turkmenistan for the Assignment series on BBC Radio Four that was broadcast on November 17. It was suggested on Monday that while visiting the site of some demolished housing Ash gave Amanklychev $600.
Furthermore, it is alleged that on the instructions of Begmedova, Chairwoman of the Turkmen Helsinki Foundation, Amanklychev met with a British national, Stuart Nicolas Hook, and Catherine Bertlyer (probably misspelled), both of whom were reputedly carrying reconnaissance equipment.
There is no underestimating the gravity of the accusations being made, which directly implicate the French government and the OSCE with an attempt to topple a sovereign government. Until now, the French foreign office has declined to offer any comment, so only the official Turkmen version is available. The official Turkmen line was expressed by Niyazov himself during the televised broadcast:

“All the confirmed facts about the involvement of foreign embassy employees in this matter will be reported to the heads of these missions and entail appropriate measures.
We will allow no-one to destroy the country or prevent the Turkmen people from building a peaceful future.”