Foreign Policy of Turkmenistan in the Late XX – Early XXI Centuries

© Gulnira Dzhamieva, 2023

ISBN 978-5-0060-7755-3

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

PREFACE

Turkmenistan is located in southwestern Central Asia. Its territory is 488.1 thousand square meters. km Turkmenistan occupies a favorable geographical position. The country is objectively a “bridge” between Europe, the European CIS states, the central part of Russia, on the one hand, and the vast regions of Central and South Asia, on the other. On land, Turkmenistan borders Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Iran, has access to the Caspian Sea.

Turkmenistan is rich in various minerals. The country has large reserves of mercury, sulfur, ozokerite, and what is important for the arid desert climate, sources of fresh drinking and mineral medicinal water. Turkmenistan is also known for other natural wealth, which is in great demand in the world market.

A factor of strategic importance that can determine the historical fate of Turkmenistan is the presence of large reserves of oil and gas in the republic. Turkmenistan ranked 2nd even in such the largest fuel and energy power that was the USSR. And at present, Turkmenistan ranks 4th in the world in terms of gas production. Today, more than 80 billion cubic meters of gas and 6 million tons of oil are produced annually from the fields already in operation. In addition to this, several more large promising oil and gas fields have been discovered on the territory of the republic. Their development will allow in the future to increase oil production three times, and gas twice. Proven gold reserves allow the republic to create its own gold reserves.

Turkmenistan is a small state in terms of population, which, according to modern estimates, is slightly more than 6 million people.

The demographic potential in the republic is considered prosperous. Fertility rates (32.0 people/thousand people. population) significantly exceed mortality rates (7.7). The annual population growth is 24.3. At the same time, about half of the population is people under the age of 30. Problems such as aging of the population, stopping or negative indicator of natural growth, the republic is practically not threatened.

The choice of the topic under study is due to the fact that so far in Tajik science there has not been a generalizing study on the problem of Turkmenistan in the system of international relations in the late XX – early XXI centuries. The author first attempted to summarize the available data to create a comprehensive analytical work on the history of Turkmenistan’s relations in the late XX – early XXI centuries.

Number of studies are devoted to the analysis of the problem of relations between Turkmenistan and regional and external actors are. In the work “Foreign Policy of Russia in the CIS” by Butorov S. A. (Dushanbe – 2009), discussed the issues of interaction between the Russian Federation and the countries of Central Asia, the prospect and problems of developing relations within the framework of bilateral relations, the state of the foreign policy of the Russian Federation in relation to this region, in the document “Concept of Turkmenistan’s foreign policy as a neutral independent state, directions and vectors of cooperation between Turkmenistan and external actors. The book “Springs of Friendship” by A. Iskandarov (Moscow – 2000) helps to analyze the situation in Turkmenistan, starting with the period of independence and the establishment of diplomatic relations between Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. In the book “The Second Chance of Central Asia” by Martha B. O. (Washington – 2005), describes the processes. Occurring in Central Asian states after the events of September 11, 2001. The role and place of post-Soviet states in resolving the situation in Afghanistan, as well as ensuring regional security. Among them are the works of Vengerov A. B. Political space and political time (experience in structuring concepts), Z. Agamamedova’s article “Neutrality of Turkmenistan,” which reveals the true reasons for Turkmenistan’s position in international affairs, as well as the role of positive neutrality in the implementation of the country’s foreign policy activities. Esenov M., Foreign Policy of Turkmenistan and Its Influence on the System of “Regional Security,” article by Peresesnin M. (Ashgabat – 2007) “Eurodebut Turkmenistan and the European Union have developed algorithms for rapprochement.”

Separately, the work of Ashimbayev M. S., Laumulin M. T., Tukumova E. V., Guseva L. Yu., Kalieva D. A., Kozhikhova A. G. (KISI – 2003), “Central Asia before and after September 11: geopolitics and security” should be indicated. This paper considers almost all aspects of the relationship between the countries of Central Asia.

This study was carried out at the Department of International Relations of the Russian-Tajik (Slavic) University under the guidance of G.M. Maitdinova, Doctor of Historical Sciences.

The author expresses his gratitude for the support of G.M. Maitdinova, Doctor of Historical Sciences; Head of the Department of International Relations, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor M. Shovkoplyas; Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Latifov D. L.; First Deputy Director of the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, Professor S. Safarov; Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor A. Rakhmonov.

CHAPTER I. FOREIGN POLICY VECTORS OF COOPERATION IN TURKMENISTAN: EVOLUTION AND PRIORITIES

The modern Turkmen state arose as a result of the largest geopolitical changes in recent history. The formation of Turkmen statehood, including its most important attribute, as an independent foreign policy, takes place in parallel with the continuation of the processes of national and cultural self-determination of the peoples of Turkmenistan. At the same time, it is the political and scientific elite that should ideally strive to make this process natural and stable, which, in turn, is impossible in the context of the forced assertion of any one, dominant point of view on what is happening.

Over the past 31 years, the model of internal political development of a particular republic has largely been determined. In this direction, the choice has already been made. However, to this day, the main question remains open – about foreign policy priorities and the creation of a sustainable system of state and regional security.

Currently, the concept of Turkmen statehood, including its foreign policy component, is still being understood and initially formalized. It will also determine the stages of the formation of the system of relations between Turkmenistan and the CIS countries, with its neighbors in the region, with the leading states of the world – that is, the place and role of Turkmenistan in the system of international relations.

Turkmenistan’s foreign policy is currently determined by a number of factors related to its economic and socio-political interests, the current situation in the region, as well as the general geopolitical situation. Among these factors should be highlighted the neutral status of Turkmenistan, the huge reserves of natural gas in the country and the desire to maximize its exports, a significant change in the political situation in Central Asia after the defeat of the Taliban and the arrival of Western, primarily American troops in the region. These factors also include the problems of the legal status of the Caspian Sea that have not yet been resolved.

§1. EVOLUTION OF FOREIGN POLICY CONCEPT AND TURKMEN POLICY OF NEUTRALITY

The most important factors of Turkmenistan’s foreign policy operate in the public sphere.

In general, the economy of Turkmenistan is developing dynamically, for example, today the volume of exports of raw materials and various goods exceeds the volume of imports by one quarter and amounts to $8 billion. Turkmenistan is a leading producer not only in the CIS, but also in the world, of a number of chemicals: sulfur, iodine, iron bromide, rare earth metals. The republic is a major electricity producer.

The objective basis of Turkmenistan’s foreign policy is the very fact of the existence of an independent Turkmen state.

The fundamental basis for developing a foreign policy course was the first documents of the new independent Turkmenistan. These primarily include the Declaration on State Sovereignty of the Turkmen USSR.

To explain the thesis put forward, we give a number of examples. Thus, the wealth of natural resources of Turkmenistan is combined with a lag in the development of the manufacturing industry. Harnessing the benefits of geographical location faces significant difficulties due to the lack of modern transport infrastructure. The population of the republic is extremely unevenly located, which is concentrated, in fact, around the five main centers with the most favorable natural conditions and a developed social and industrial environment. The orientation towards the deep modernization of independent Turkmenistan in practice stated in the fundamental political documents is implemented in the context of the political tradition of the Eastern life structure society.

It is the specified internal complexity, inconsistency of common (non-systemic) factors of Turkmenistan’s foreign policy that determines the qualitative specifics of the content of its objective prerequisites.

The existence of an independent Turkmen state was already emphasized for the foreign policy of Turkmenistan. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that nowadays Turkmen statehood is taking, in fact, the first steps towards independent development.

Today, Turkmenistan’s geopolitical position has changed dramatically. If earlier the republic was part of the global system, which in many ways “automatically” for the country determined its place in regional relations with other states (Iran, Afghanistan), now Turkmenistan has become the site of a clash of regional centers of power: Iran, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan. Each of these centers, not to mention Russia, joined the struggle for the predominant influence in the geopolitical and economic spaces of Turkmenistan, control over which will allow them to gain undoubted benefits.

Having left the geopolitical super system of the former USSR, Turkmenistan found itself in the position of a closed, continental country. Only in the Caspian Sea can it freely communicate with its closest neighbors, in other cases, contacts with other states, and even more so with “far abroad,” largely turned out to be depending on the favor of third states. The problem of establishing, in fact, again the system of political and economic communication faced Turkmenistan in full growth. Indeed, even in order to benefit from the presence of large reserves of hydrocarbons, Turkmenistan is forced to seek the direct or indirect consent of its neighbors, who, in turn, pursue their own interests.

Ensuring national security in the new conditions is also possible either on a multilateral basis, within the CIS, or independently, and the latter is practically impossible due to the lack of sufficient funds for this. Turkmenistan’s participation simultaneously in the CIS and the OER, as well as in other international organizations, contributes to the conflict-prone situation of “prize struggle” between various applicants for approval, including by force, of their understanding of “security guarantees.” It was a similar situation that resulted in a bloody armed confrontation between various groups in Tajikistan.

Thus, Turkmenistan faces a choice: whether to build its foreign policy on a Eurasian basis with the priority of an alliance with the CIS countries, whether to get involved in the Middle Eastern regionalism of Islamic states, or, together with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, build an independent Central Asian subsystem of international relations. An attempt to claim independence, and therefore not joining any of these systems (subsystems), firstly, will require agreement on such a role for Turkmenistan of the main “centers of power” associated with it, which is very unlikely, and secondly, it will require the use of such a volume of various resources, which are also very problematic to find.

An important geopolitical reserve for ensuring relative independence in Turkmenistan’s foreign policy is the prospect of establishing its relations with such a still influential subject of the global geopolitical system of the world as the Non-Aligned Movement. Now it includes over 100 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. The 11th Conference of Foreign Ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement, held in Cairo in June 1994, noted at the same time that the important role of non-aligned countries in the modern world and the need for a deep renewal of the philosophy and concept of non-aligned countries. In international relations, non-alignment manifests itself in three forms: as the foreign policy doctrine of most developing countries, as the specific foreign policy course of these countries and as a kind of interstate political association of independent states. Turkmenistan, benefiting from considerable geopolitical benefits, could intensify efforts to integrate the renewal of the Non-Aligned Movement into diverse processes.

The considered variety of prerequisites for the formation of Turkmenistan’s foreign policy should still be fully understood by politicians. On this basis alone, it can be no coincidence that there is an awareness of the foundations of the consistency of the state’s foreign policy activities, namely the definition of its subjects, basic needs, interests, basic values, goals and objectives.

Taking into account the cultural and historical community of participants in the foreign policy process, Turkmenistan should be provided with relatively independent directions of its foreign policy:

related to building relations with Turkish-speaking countries, with countries of Central Asia, the Middle and Middle East;

with European states;

with countries that are leading representatives of other world cultures.

The culture, language, traditions of the Turkmen people are historically associated with the peoples of Turkic-speaking, Muslim states, and their artificial division during the period of domination of totalitarianism in the USSR had very difficult consequences. It must be admitted that the people of Turkmenistan have to some extent departed from their national and cultural origins, which, in turn, led to a certain historical disorientation of the nation. Therefore, the establishment of good-neighborly relations with neighboring Central Asian states will undoubtedly become a priority direction of Turkmenistan’s foreign policy.

At the jubilee session of the UN General Assembly, which opened in New York on October 22, 1995, Turkmenistan spoke and the world community received it with complete unanimity.

December 12, 1995 on the basis of UN General Assembly Resolution No. 50/80. Turkmenistan is proclaimed a permanent neutral state. By virtue of its goals and objectives as defined by the Charter and its general interest in a peace-loving policy, the UNGA has followed the path of supporting, recognizing Turkmenistan’s neutrality and ensuring guarantees of existence. Thus, the resolution emphasizes that the UN “expressing the hope that the status of permanent neutrality of Turkmenistan will contribute to the strengthening of peace and security in the region, recognizes and supports the status of permanent neutrality proclaimed by Turkmenistan.”

Support of the UN is a rare occurrence in more than half a century of the history of this international organization.

Neutrality is one of the most important forms of monitoring the implementation of international humanitarian law. For more than half a century of the existence of the UN, the content of many international legal institutions has received new development and needs to be clarified. It seems necessary to clarify and supplement the content of the Institute of Neutrality, since more than enough time has passed since its inception as an international legal category. During this period, many neutral states appeared in the world. It should be emphasized that Turkmenistan’s neutrality differs from other similar states in terms of the method and conditions of acquisition. For example, in historical terms, the institution of neutrality arose in the science of humanitarian law in armed conflicts (more precisely, the “law of war” developed by Hugo Grotsiy) and was long considered as a way of non-participation of the country in armed conflict. The expression of this approach was the neutral status of Switzerland.

There is an opinion that constant neutrality leads to self-isolation of Turkmenistan. Those concerns are not true. The freedom of action of a neutral state is so great that Finland and Sweden participate not only in the political, but also in the military actions of the UN. Neutral status allows them to strengthen their international authority. Thanks to their neutrality, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland – small states, somewhat commensurate in status with Turkmenistan, were able to develop active economic, trade and other ties with members of different blocs and that is why they became one of the most developed countries.

Neutral status Turkmenistan opens up wide opportunities for it to pursue its peace-loving foreign policy, active, positive line in the development of peaceful, friendly relations with foreign partners on the principles of equality, mutual respect, mutually beneficial and non-interference in the internal affairs of other states.

For the fourteenth year, Turkmenistan has been acting in the international arena as an officially recognized constantly neutral state. He reaffirmed his continued commitment to the international obligations undertaken in this capacity: the neutral status was decisive for Turkmenistan in determining its approaches and positions on any issues of bilateral relations, regional and world policy. Neutral Turkmenistan did not join any military, military-political bloc, union, alliance, any international structure with strict regulatory functions or imply collective responsibility, strictly and strictly adhered to the principles of peacefulness, equality, good neighborliness, non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. Turkmenistan was actively involved in the activities of the international community aimed at ensuring peace, harmony and constructive cooperation.

The foreign policy of neutral Turkmenistan, being a logical continuation of its domestic policy, is an example of the embodiment of the conceptual ideas of Saparmurat Turkmenbashi on the transition of an Asian, traditional type of society to a new, democratic state. Turkmenistan’s neutrality contributed to the creation of a socio-political atmosphere that allowed the evolutionary way to form the main elements of a democratic society in Turkmenistan. This formation:

democratic culture among the people, based on centuries-old traditions and taking into account the values of modern civilization;

feelings of respect for the law, for power, for the citizen, and for the individual as a whole; the foundations of economic independence of each individual, the elimination of the dependence of people on each other, originating from official, social and other provisions in society;

a real socio-economic base of democratic mentality and behavior based on ensuring the well-being of each family and individual;

an atmosphere of confidence of people and society as a whole in the future, giving reforms the character of seamless therapy and social orientation.

Turkmenistan’s permanent neutrality implies its use of its political capabilities in order to non-violently resolve contradictions and conflicts between states, and to establish a more humane and creative order in international relations. By excluding the very possibility of interference in the internal affairs of other states, recognizing the inalienable right to choose each state on its own path of development, Turkmenistan always contributes to any peacekeeping processes, constructive dialogue in the name of peace and harmony. Turkmenistan refuses the use of force or the threat of its use, as well as the infringement of the interests of other states in any form.

Turkmenistan’s foreign policy is a logical continuation of domestic policy and is determined by the international legal status of permanent neutrality assumed by Turkmenistan voluntarily, within the framework of the realization of the inalienable rights of a sovereign state.

The main objectives of Turkmenistan’s foreign policy are:

preserving and strengthening Turkmenistan’s state sovereignty, increasing its role and importance in the system of international relations;

creating the most favorable foreign policy conditions for the internal development of the state;

upholding and realizing Turkmenistan’s national interests by all forms of contacts established in international practice;

ensuring the security of Turkmenistan by political and diplomatic means;

development of constructive mutually beneficial cooperation with all foreign partners on the basis of equality and mutual respect;

ensuring full compliance of Turkmenistan’s foreign policy actions with international law and the UN Charter.

Our analysis also showed that Turkmenistan chose a policy of neutrality in a rather difficult period for the country. The collapse of the Soviet Union, the tense situation in the post-Soviet conflict, the uncertainty of the policies of the countries of Central Asia, the conflict situation in Afghanistan.

It was necessary to understand your problems, without the intervention of other parties. With a rich hydrocarbon supply, Turkmenistan could become a “bone of contention” for the powers.

Thus, due to its chosen policy of neutrality, Turkmenistan fenced itself off from the world, which contributed to its normal and consistent development.