Political and Economic Orientation of Turkmenistan in 21st Century – Part One

nCa Analysis by Tariq Saeedi

Ashgabat, 4 October 2007 (nCa) --- In his recent visit to New York, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov of Turkmenistan delivered three landmark speeches. Taken together, these speeches describe the political and economic orientation of Turkmenistan in the 21^st century.

While addressing the UN General Assembly, the faculty and students of the Columbia University and the luncheon engagement at the Eurasia Group, Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov (GB) painted a broad stroke picture of how Turkmenistan would evolve during his presidency.

In this analysis I would touch very briefly some nuances of his vision.

Neutrality as a dynamic concept

The permanent neutrality of Turkmenistan is a vibrant concept, always evolving to meet the challenges of time.

When a civil war was raging in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan reached forward and brought the warring faction to the negotiation table. With endless patience that is an integral part of Turkmen character, Ashgabat managed to broker peace that is still holding well in Dushanbe.

When Afghanistan was in stalemate during Taliban era, Turkmenistan hosted several rounds of talks between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance. Peace was only one step away when the talks collapsed because of external interference but that was no fault of Turkmenistan.

Now that several potential conflicts are itching to erupt in the Central Asian region, Turkmenistan is once again ready to play its traditional role of peacemaker.

The regional peace centre – centre for preventive diplomacy – under the aegis of the United Nations will open its doors for business in Ashgabat by the end of this year.

While in New York, GB used the opportunity to thank the world community for trusting Turkmenistan with this enormous responsibility. The success of the centre would encourage the UN to descend to regional level in other areas of the world where the simmering conflicts demand quick and farsighted solutions.

The odds for the success of the centre would improve greatly if the concept is refined thoroughly with the help of past experience in preventive diplomacy around the world.

GB was probably alluding to this need when he told the General Assembly that the opening of the centre would “mark an entirely new phase in our country’s and our neighbours’ efforts to ensure peace, security and stability in the region.”

This should be at the core of the concept: The region should be trusted to find its own solutions, with minimum contribution from outsiders.

As we have seen in Kosova, meddling by outsiders, in the form of experts or consultants, leads to nothing but royal mess.

There are plenty of experts in Central Asia on any issue that may be confronting the region.

To be continued . . .