FOREIGN
RELATIONS
Turkmenistan’s
declaration of “permanent neutrality” was formally
recognized by the United Nations in 1995. Although the Government
of Turkmenistan favors purchases from the United States, it has
significant commercial relationships with Turkey, Russia, and
Iran. The government worked closely with the Taliban regime in
Afghanistan until September 11, 2001, and until that time had
a growing cross-border trade with the regime in Afghanistan.
The five states of Central Asia wrestle with sharing limited water resources and environmental degradation caused by the shrinking of the Aral Sea. Multilaterally accepted Caspian Sea seabed and maritime boundaries have not yet been established. Up to now, Iran has insisted on dividing the Caspian Sea into five equal sectors while Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia have generally agreed upon equidistant seabed boundaries. Turkmenistan is negotiating bilateral delimitation with Azerbaijan.
U.S.-TURKMENISTAN
RELATIONS
For several years, Turkmenistan was a key player in the U.S. Caspian Basin Energy Initiative, which sought to facilitate negotiations between commercial partners and the Governments of Turkmenistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey to build a pipeline under the Caspian Sea and export Turkmen gas to the Turkish domestic energy market and beyond--the so-called Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline (TCGP). However, the Government of Turkmenistan essentially removed itself from the negotiations in 2000 by refusing all offers by its commercial partners and making unrealistic demands for billion-dollar "pre-financing." Following a tripartite summit with the presidents of Russia and Kazakhstan in May 2007 in which gas was a major topic, however, President Berdimuhamedov again resurrected the idea of a Trans-Caspian gas pipeline, explicitly refusing to rule out the possibility of constructing such a pipeline in the future.
The United States and Turkmenistan agreed in February 2007 to "turn a new page" in the bilateral relationship and find ways to cooperate on political and human rights reform, economic and agricultural reform, education and health care, energy, and security.
U.S. criticism of the Government of Turkmenistan's crackdown against perceived sources of political opposition after the November 2002 motorcade attack led to a marked downturn in bilateral relations between the Governments of the United States and Turkmenistan. However, currently the Government of Turkmenistan is interested in engaging with the United States in several areas, including security and energy issues. In order to secure and maintain this engagement, the government has been willing to take some small steps forward in democratic reform, such as lifting exit visas and allowing the registration of some religious minorities. Its human rights record, however, remains poor. Diplomatic missions from various countries and international organizations have joined together to persuade the Government of Turkmenistan to improve its human rights practices, but their efforts have not yet led to significant improvements overall.
[Fact sheet on FY 2008 U.S. Assistance to Turkmenistan.]
Principal U.S. Officials
Ambassador--vacant
Charge d'Affaires-Sylvia Reed Curran
Political-Economic Officer--Heather A. Troutman
Public Affairs Officer--Andrew B. Paul
Defense Attache--LTC James F. Zink
Consul of the United States of America--Elizabeth W. Webster
The U.S. Embassy is located at 9 1984 Street (formerly Pushkin Street), Ashgabat, Turkmenistan; tel: [993](12)35-00-45; fax: [993](12)51-13-05.
USAID is located at 1, Yunus Emre Str., International Business Center, 744017, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, tel: [993](12)45-61-30 ; fax: [993](12)45-47-62.
