Tag Archives: Turkmenistan

Turkmen president hosts Palestinian leader Abbas

NOV. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov hosted Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas for the first time in Ashagabat for talks on bolstering bilateral relations.

Mr Abbas has never been on an official visit to Central Asia before.

After meeting Mr Berdymukhamedov, Mr Abbas opened a new Palestinian embassy. This is thefourth Palestinian embassy in the region after Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan.

A Turkmen foreign ministry delegation had travelled to Palestine earlier this year to lay the groundwork for Mr Abbas’ trip to Ashgabat. For Mr Berdymukhamedov, the visit by Mr Abbas was an opportunity to look statesmanlike.

Official media quoted Mr Berdymukhamedov as saying: “Turkmenistan, which implements its foreign policy based on the principles of positive neutrality, is interested in the development of equitable and friendly relations with all world countries, including the Middle East countries and Palestine in particular.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)

HRW condemns assault in Turkmenistan

NOV. 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) condemned an assault on Turkmen journalist Soltan Achilova, who had also been briefly detained and questioned by the police. In a statement, HRW said that the October attack on Ms Achilova, who works for US- funded RFE/RL, had been organised to silence criticism.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Uzbek delegation visits Ashgabat

NOV. 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek deputy PM Ulugbek Rozukulov led a delegation to Ashgabat to meet with Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, official Turkmen media reported. Mr Rozukulov’s mission is part of a drive by acting president Shavket Mirziyoyev to improve Uzbekistan’s international relations since the death in September of Islam Karimov.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Turkmenistan postpones air link with Georgia

NOV. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Just weeks after announcing the new connection between Turkmenistan and Georgia, Turkmenistan Airlines suspended direct flights from Ashgabat to Tbilisi because of commercial concerns, Agenda.ge reported. The state-owned company had planned to start flights in September and later delayed the start date to November.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Turkmenistan settles row with Gazprom

NOV. 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan’s Turkmengaz and Russia’s Gazprom settled a row over gas pricing after a meeting between Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin last week, media reported. Earlier this year, Gazprom filed an arbitration case against Turkmengaz in a Stockholm court alleging that it had been over-charged for gas. Turkmengaz had previously accused Gazprom of not paying its debts.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Turkmen President reinforces cigarette ban

NOV. 2 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov reprimanded the country’s interior minister, Isgender Mulikov, for ineffectively combating the illegal sale of cigarettes. Shortly after the presidential remarks, which aired on state TV, local reporters said that cigarettes disappeared from the shelves of several stores in Ashgabat. Opposition website Alternative News of Turkmenistan said the shopkeepers were responding to a direct order from the ministry. In January, Turkmenistan introduced an informal ban on the sale of cigarettes.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 303, published on Nov. 4 2016)

Turkmenistan sells cheap gas to China

OCT. 31 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan sold 23b cubic metres of gas to China in the first nine months of 2016 at a price of $185/1,000 cubic metres, according to official statistics published by China’s Border Administration. Supplies from Turkmenistan to China increased by 13% in the considered period, but Turkmenistan is the cheapest gas that China imports. The price that China pays is tied to loans and grants it sent to Turkmenistan over the years to develop its giant gas fields in the south of the country.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 303, published on Nov. 4 2016)

Turkmenistan completes railway construction

OCT. 31 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan’s foreign ministry said that construction work at a railway network connecting Atamyrat-Imamnazar to Akina in Afghanistan was complete. The two countries had started building the 88km railway connection in mid-2013. Altcom, a Ukrainian company, built two of the railway’s bridges. Turkmenistan and Afghanistan have tried to improve diplomatic ties to jointly combat Islamic extremists who threaten Turkmenistan’s southern border.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 303, published on Nov. 4 2016)

Turkmen President visits Putin

NOV. 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Sochi during an official visit aimed at improving economic and trade ties. After a legal spat, Turkmenistan and Russia stopped trading gas, an important revenue stream for the Central Asian country. Mr Berdymukhamedov’s visit signals a potential rapprochement between the two countries.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 303, published on Nov. 4 2016)

Turkmen President agrees to pardon prisoners

OCT. 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov agreed to pardon 1,523 jail inmates to celebrate the 25th anniversary of independence from the Soviet Union. Mass amnesties for major events are fairly commonplace in Central Asia. Amnesties are also used as a way of relieving overcrowding.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 302, published on Oct. 28 2016)