Turkish President Abdullah Gül ended his three-day official visit to Turkmenistan yesterday. Although no important documents were signed, the Turks proposed to the Turkmen side mutual cooperation in gas industry. As the gundogar.org website informs, quoting the Reuters News Agency:

On his first official visit to Turkmenistan, Turkish President Abdullah Gül proposed to Ashgabat the reinstatement of the project of a gas pipeline running from Turkmenistan to Turkey via Iran […] with annual capacity of 16 billion cubic metres of gas.
Attractive as it may be, this proposal poses a problem for Ashgabat because of the strong opposition by the U.S. From Turkmenistan’s point of view, it would be much wiser to engage in the Transcaspian gas pipeline project (from Turkmenistan through Azerbaijan to Turkey).

However, the aim of Gül’s visit to Ashgabat was something more than just the gas issue. Turkey is one of Turkmenistan’s most important economic partners, as the turkmenistan.ru web site reminds in a short note:

Turkey holds a stable 4th place in Turkmenistan’s exports and 1st place in Turkmenistan’s imports. Trade turnover between the two states exceeded US $ 1.1 billion in the first ten months of 2007. 428 enterprises with Turkish capital were registered in Turkmenistan. This is 33% of all foreign companies registered in Turkmenistan. Currently around 700 Turkmen students are studying in the higher educational institutions in Turkey.

The problem is that Turkmenbashi’s death and Berdymukhammedov’s seizure of power has put Turkish businessmen operating in Turkmenistan in a difficult position. Making a lucrative offer to a Turkmen partner and signing a contract is not a prerequisite sufficient to gain access to the Turkmen market, the prospective investor must also contact the president. Only after the president accepts him and the proposed amount of money, may a businessman enter the market. With the appearance of a new leader, all contacts had to be renewed. But Berdymukhammedov was not going to continue all “acquaintances” of his predecessor.

The process turned out painful for some Turkish businessmen, e.g. a Niyazov’s “favourite” Akhmed Chalyk, the owner of one of the biggest companies in Turkmenistan, who enjoyed the confidence of the “serdar” himself. As the now exiled ex-ambassador of Turkmenistan to Turkey Nurmukhammed Khanamov said in an interview for Deutsche Welle, Chalyk was involved in money laundering at Niyazov’s orders. Detained for 12 days during his last visit to Ashgabat, he was released only after the intervention of the Turkish government. Supposedly, those who detained him wanted to gain information about foreign bank accounts where Turkmenbashi kept his money. Currently Chalyk as well as many other Turks remain personae non gratae in Turkmenistan.

Thus, Gül came to Ashgabat also in order to set the rules of the game for the Turkish business. Has he managed to do it? The time will tell…