Turkmenistan: A Nation of Contradictions

Turkmenistan: A Nation of Contradictions

In October 2001, the Central Asian country Turkmenistan celebrated its tenth year of independence. Formerly the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (T.S.S.R), Turkmenistan gained its sovereignty with the collapse of its communist counterpart, the Soviet Union in 1991. However, there is much to be questioned about the status of the “democratic” republic which operates Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan functions as a government who has elected a lifelong dictator, supported the Taliban regime of Afghanistan, and allows no political opposition in any “democratic” function.

Turkmenistan borders the Caspian Sea and the nations of Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan. The land is mostly desert, giving little agricultural support to the Turkmen economy. Turkmenistan’s main industries include oil, petroleum, cotton, and textiles, all of which they export. More than 85 percent of the working population, however, works in agriculture. Most other resources are imported from surrounding countries, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States. A current goal of Turkmenistan to generate more revenues is to build a transnational pipeline transport infrastructure to pump gas and oil through to Iran, Turkey, and Pakistan. Exporting gas and oil from Turkmenistan has given the nation an economic advantage over its former Soviet counterparts, making Turkmenistan the nation who rose the fastest to its feet after gaining its independence. Or so Turkmenistan says. Economic analysts outside the former republics of the Soviet Union tend to disqualify these claims based on the methods the Turkmen government has used to declare itself financially stable. The United States Department of...

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...he communist spirit that was supposedly died with the fall of the U.S.S.R. and its counterparts, making relations between Turkmenistan and any country worth questioning. If Turkmenistan would consider revoking the lifetime term of their president and start abiding by their constitutional laws, the nation could one day lose its communist traditions and flow into the transnationalist blending of the world that is beginning for the more well-established countries of the world.

Bibliography

Central Intelligence Agency. www.cia.gov

Embassy of Turkmenistan: United States. www.turkmenistanembassy.org

Library of Congress. www.loc.gov

Mandelbaum, Michael. “Central Asia… And the World.” New York, Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1994.

Rashid, Ahmed. “The Resurgence of Central Asia: Islam or Nationalism?” Karachi, Oxford University Press, 1994.