On October 27, Turkmenistan celebrated its 20th anniversary since independence from the Soviet Union – but a number of recent actions suggest that it is emphasizing its independence from today’s Russia as well.
Earlier this month, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov in his capacity as the Supreme Commander of Turkmenistan's Armed Forces, took a helicopter ride to visit a naval base on the shore of the Caspian Sea. BBC Monitoring Central Asia, citing TV Altyn Asyr, reported that the Turkmen leader and Yaylym Berdiyev, national security minister, reviewed some new military ships that had been added to Turkmenistan's fledgling navy.
Although Ashgabat is always careful to declare its “neutrality,” Turkmenistan has spent recent years beefing up its arsenal of ships, patrol boats, guided missiles and other armaments to establish what it sees as a necessary position to counter the increasing militarization of the Caspian Sea by Russia and other littoral states. In recent weeks, Ashgabat has had a war of words with Moscow over its insistence on resolving bilaterally, instead of multilaterally with Russia’s and Iran’s participation, the issue of its Caspian Sea demarcation and use of assets. An end to the long-standing border dispute with Azerbaijan would clear the way for the Trans Caspian pipeline from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan, which in turn would help turn to reality the European Union’s dream of the Nabucco pipeline to bypass Russia.
For the first time in the state media – as opposed to foreign media coverage – President Berdymukhamedov has pronounced the word “Nabucco.” While not having made a definitive commitment, the Turkmen leader does seem to have come further than a year ago when foreign journalists recorded a top Turkmen energy official signaling interest in Nabucco at the annual oil and gas conference. The announcement of Azerbaijan’s recent agreement with Turkey regarding gas supply and transit also seemed to open up the prospect of Nabucco again. Yet EurasiaNet’s Tamada Tales blog, just like Sifting the Karakum, has pointed to the same problem in both sets of announcements: the details of actual agreements are being left to commissions and working groups – and they may take long periods to reach a conclusion. Even so, by telling off the Kremlin and continuing to accept overtures from Brussels, Berdymukhamedov seems poised to turn a corner on the Western-directed pipelines – and claims his country has enough gas to fill them, with recent discoveries and reassessments of its reserves.
Moscow seems very unhappy; as Aleksandr Knyazev of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Oriental Studies told Nezavisimaya gazeta, “Turkmenistan is lobbying for the implementation of a controversial gas project, the Trans Caspian pipeline which may provoke sharp counteraction by above all Russia and Iran.” Yet Knyazev seems to qualify his ominous statement: “Of course, it is not a question of some sort of war for position in the Caspian, but it is impossible to completely rule out a negative scenario of how the events unfold.” Only time will tell what the “negative scenario” might entail – Russia is now on par with Iran in the Turkmen gas market, with a purchase of only 10 billion cubic meters – outstripped by China – and it has lost its leverage to exact conformity from Ashgabat, even with military superiority in the Caspian.
Berdymukhamedov made another announcement that basically consisted of a declaration of independence from Moscow, or at least Gazprom, which operates the Yamal satellite on which currently depend Turkmen state television as well as Russian broadcasts seen in Turkmenistan. Earlier this year, the president announced that a space program was established, and now he confirmed in a ceremony to honor Independence Day that Ashgabat will launch a satellite of its own to handle digital television, Internet, communications, land surveys and various other unspecified state functions – likely border control.
Berdymukhamedov has frequently spoken out against satellite dishes in Ashgabat, claiming the issue is the unsightly view. Yet observers believe that what he is really bothered about is the heavy influence of Russian television, which often portrays Turkmenistan negatively. But as restricted and biased as Russian media is in its own right, at least it provides more free coverage of global and Turkmen events than Turkmen state TV, generally saturated with Berdymukhamedov’s carefully-staged trips around the country, his speeches at meetings, and entertainment. Currently, two US companies are helping Turkmenistan modernize its broadcasting – Harris Broadcast Communications has provided technology for the new $450 million Turkmen Broadcasting Center, and SpaceX plans to launch Turkmenistan’s satellite in 2014. The ostentatious 211-meter TV tower, which consists of a pyramid-like base and a giant eight-sided star, formed the backdrop of a number of Independence Day events. The Oghuz Khan star, as it is known, is Turkmenistan’s state symbol – and now Turkmenistan has gone into the Guinness Book of Records yet again for the largest constructed star-shaped building.
The national holiday was an exhausting experience for hundreds of thousands of Turkmenistan’s citizens. For weeks, they have been forced to rise at dawn and rehearse mass dances and marches endlessly in the hot sun, denied water and bathroom breaks, sometimes fainting in their heavy costumes, the independent émigré site chrono-tm reported. A downpour ruined Berdymukhamedov’s parade, however, and thousands of thoroughly-soaked soldiers and forced parade-watchers had to go in their wet clothing to a concert, and then later to rather dampened fireworks. The weather did not stop the indefatigable Turkmen leader from giving endless propagandistic speeches, awarding medals and gifts to his seeming admirers and sycophants, including certain business people primarily from Russia and Turkey. Greetings poured in from all over the world, from the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to the UN General Secretary Ban Ki Moon.
For the occasion, Berdymukhamedov awarded himself a Hero of Turkmenistan medal, reminiscent of the sort of medals Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev used to bedeck himself with, and then as if that were not embarrassing enough, presented two new books he had supposedly penned, Living Legend, about the art of Turkmen carpet-weaving, and A Good Name is Imperishable, about his great grandfather, grandfather, and father. The Turkmen leader magnanimously donated the book to a new regional library in Mary, near the seat of the ancient civilization of Merv, and opened a scholarly conference at which Russian academics were on hand to praise him for his contribution to world culture.
While 20 years after the collapse of the USSR, Turkmenistan is independent and self-sufficient, it is not free, as it still remains locked in disputes with Moscow and Baku, and its people do not yet enjoy the level of democracy even of its Central Asian neighbors. They are increasingly forced to participate in mass events to glorify the state as in the days of Soviet totalitarianism. Ashgabat is developing its vast gas deposits and building many palaces in the style of dictator chic, but hasn’t been able to secure basic services like unimpeded mobile telephones and Internet on demand, nor institutions like rural clinics and addiction treatment centers.
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No. 43 Oct. 25-31, 2011
Catherine A. Fitzpatrick compiles the Turkmenistan weekly roundup for EurasiaNet. She is also editor of EurasiaNet's Sifting the Karakum blog.
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