President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov held a telephone conversation with India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week, the third leader he has spoken to this month among the states participating in the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline. The Turkmen leader had visited India in May, and now has the cooperation of India's leadership in the pipeline project. Prime Minister Singh said he would be happy to participate in the December summit of TAPI heads of state. In the past, while keen to access Central Asian energy resources, India was skeptical that Turkmenistan had the resources required to supply TAPI. India lost out to China in a bid for a deal to take over PetroKazakhstan in 2006, Asia Times noted in a retrospective piece in 2008, and appeared to conclude that deep pockets and persistence were required in dealing with this region. Analysts have indicated that regional warlords as well as government officials will need to be paid to ensure safe access through the volatile regions of TAPI’s route.

President Berdymukhamedov received Belarusian strong man Viktor Sheiman last week, the special envoy of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka who has headed various power ministries over the years and has thus been held accountable by various human rights institutions for the disappearances of political figures. Independent Belarusian commentators said they did not believe Sheiman was in Ashgabat merely to talk about the latest consignment of Belarusian tractors or the joint construction of a fertilizer plant, but was likely hoping to buy gas, as Belarus’ relations have deteriorated with Russia, or, perhaps to sponsor a project with Venezuela, as Sheiman is the official in charge of Belarus' oil projects with Caracas.

Turkmenistan's increasing cooperation with international oil companies has provided an opportunity for human rights activists to seek accountability from extractive industry executives in their dealings with the repressive Turkmen government. Global Exchange and Crude Accountability are two groups working for social and environmental justice which have expressed grave doubts about how energy companies can expect to get truthful reporting from the highly-closed Turkmen system, and whether they will be facilitators of an abusive regime. In a recent blog piece, Michelle Kinman, Deputy Director of Crude Accountability described how she asked questions at Chevron's annual shareholder meeting, and was told by CEO John Watson that he expects Chevron "can do some good in Turkmenistan.” Chevron has held joint programs with USAID to train Turkmen accountants in international standards, yet many questions remain about how corporate human rights policies will actually be implemented in a setting that is so rigidly controlled. Chevron has not yet indicated if its bid for offshore drilling, encouraged in August by President Berdymukhamedov at a government meeting, will be accepted.

Freedom House, which has already rated Turkmenistan among the world's worst regimes in terms of civil and political rights, has placed Turkmenistan at the bottom of the list for labor rights in a new global report released last week. No independent trade unions are permitted. Last year, Turkmen workers employed in the construction of the pipeline to China rebelled over poor pay and working conditions, and in fact Chinese officials intervened on their behalf with the Turkmen government to obtain better terms -- an indication of just how low Turkmen standards are.

Moody's, the international credit ratings system, cancelled its ratings of Turkmenistan, saying that it did not have sufficient information, the Azerbaijan Press Agency (APA) reported.

But for every poor rating of Turkmenistan, there seems to be some interested party somewhere willing to rank Turkmenistan highly. The Romanian Institute of International Relations and Economic Cooperation has chosen President Berdymukhamedov as "Man of the Year," based on his international diplomacy, "Turkmenistan's high economic growth rates," and "substantial investments" in health and education, as well as initiatives for international peace and security, the Turkmen state media reported. The claims are difficult to substantiate given the lack of freedom for press and NGOs. Turkmenistan has also been declared to have the most generous citizens of the world, according to Charity Aid Foundation, which based its scale on a Gallop poll Such global surveys may fail to take into account the problems of polling in a closed society where the government can control access to pollsters and people may feel compelled to portray their government positively.

Apparently concerned about child pornography and Internet addiction, the Turkmen government closed down access of Turkmen Internet users to a Russian dating site called agent.mail.ru, Annasoltan, a blogger for newuetraia.net reported. The site has had a surge of Turkmen users as more and more people have gained access to the Internet, some through mobile phones and others through Internet cafes or work.. Facebook and Youtube are also banned in Turkmenistan; nevertheless a Turkmen dissident channel can be found on Youtube.

One glimmer of hope in the otherwise bleak human rights picture is the release of the "refusenik" students last month. Last fall, Turkmen authorities had inexplicably barred from travel hundreds of students already slated for study abroad who had been granted exit visas and were boarding airplanes. The government seemed to be concerned about the potential for students learning about "color revolutions" and "extremist religious movements" in foreign countries. Students who were to study at the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek were re-routed to another American-supported program in Bulgaria but then inexplicably stalled. Finally in late August of this year, the interventions of foreign diplomats finally paid off, and those students were allowed to go abroad.

While watchdog groups continue to talk about transparency on gas revenues, Turkmenistan seems to have endless funds for ostentatious state construction projects. Now Turkmenistan is boasting of a new "Olympic City" sports complex in Lebap Province that is estimated to cost $1.9 billion, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. The Turkish construction company Polimeks, which has been closely involved with the Turkmen leadership, will build the Olympic complex as well as a new general hospital for $59 million.

News Briefing Central Asia reported on an unusual meeting between Brent Woolfork, a staff member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. Congress who visited Ashgabat last week, and a group of Turkmen NGOs. Most official delegations only meet with carefully-controlled government-sponsored civic groups which usually have the qualifying term "presidential" in their titles. Not every foreign official trying to maintain cordial relations with Turkmen hosts are willing to challenge the protocols; it's interesting that Woolfork did have such a meeting, and then listened at length as the activists told him their problems, NBCA reports. A youth group leader told the American that new legislation on associations must be passed for reforms to take hold, as very few groups have been able to register in recent years.