Turkmenistan's Foreign Policy: Positive Neutrality and the Consolidation of the Turkmen Regime by Luca Anceschi

Author:Luca Anceschi [Anceschi, Luca]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, International Relations, Diplomacy
ISBN: 9780415454407
Google: ilXiwAEACAAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2009-01-15T02:30:40+00:00

Phase 1: the Kozyrev era (January 1992–December 1995)

During 1992–1995, when Russia’s policy towards CIS member states was primarily driven at the multilateral level, the bilateral relationship between Moscow and Ashgabat was concerned mainly with the identification of a common platform on which to advance political, economic and military ties. Inevitably, the continual fluctuations that occurred in the mechanisms of foreign policy formulation of the two states would impinge upon the efficacy of this process. As Russia and Turkmenistan assigned different degrees of salience to different issues, the task of establishing a common agenda turned out to be complex and elusive. At the end of the Kozyrev era, the two governments had finalised few weighty agreements – none of which were economic in nature.

Between 1992 and 1995, only a few official visits67 were exchanged between Russian and Turkmen officials: El’tsin visited Turkmenistan only once (22–23 December 1993), following on from the CIS Heads of State meeting in Ashgabat; Niyazov visited Moscow only twice (31 August–1 September 1992; 17–19 May 1995). Turkmen leaders68 met with greater regularity with representatives of other states. Between 1992 and 1995, Niyazov performed seven official visits to Iran and three to Turkey. Foreign Minister Kozyrev made only two official visits to Turkmenistan, both in 1992 (8 April and 6 November). Other significant bilateral meetings were held on the occasion of the visit of Russia’s Minister of Communication G.M. Fadeev to Ashgabat (27 May 1994) and during the official visit (11–12 August 1995) of A.A. Bol’shakov, Russian Deputy Prime Minister, to the Balkan velayat (western Turkmenistan).

Two issues dominated the agenda of those meetings: negotiations over dual citizenship and the identification of viable ways of military cooperation. Security issues featured prominently in the all-inclusive agreement of cooperation with Russia, which Niyazov signed during his first official trip to Moscow.69

The main outcome of this agreement was the establishment of a joint command for Turkmenistan’s military structures.70 The treaty also regulated the procedure for the handover to Turkmenistan of more than half of all military units and equipment. Out of the more than 300 Soviet military units (accounting for approximately 120,000 troops) located within the territory of the TSSR at the time of signature: 65 per cent passed under the full control of the Turkmen Ministry of Defence, almost 25 per cent remained under Russian jurisdiction, and only 10 per cent were dismantled.71 During the transitional period (ten years), Russia was expected to participate in the joint command and to provide Turkmenistan with military-technical and operational-tactical assistance.

In general terms, the agreement seemed to satisfy both parties. On the one hand, Turkmenistan, by granting Russia complete supervision of the training of Turkmen troops and by acquiring formal control of the former Soviet military apparatus present within its boundaries, solved the key structural problems associated with the establishment of a national army. Further, the agreement envisaged that the two parties would be equally responsible for the ensuing financial costs. For Russia, on the other hand, the agreement meant that Ashgabat was prevented from concluding comparable pacts with Iran or any of its other southern neighbours.

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