Читать книгу Foreign Policy of Turkmenistan in the Late XX – Early XXI Centuries - - Страница 5

By the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, Turkmenistan, of the state-forming features, had only a certain territory and poorly developed administrative power over it. All other important state-forming signs: a single socio-cultural space, general civil self-identification, a single legal consciousness of the population, self-sufficient economic and institutional infrastructure – were absent and are still under formation.

The territorial integrity of the country has not yet been recognized by neighboring states at the official level, and territorial claims immediately appeared on the unofficial one against Turkmenistan. In particular, Uzbekistan did not particularly hide its claims on the border territory of the Tashauz and Charjou regions, inhabited mainly by ethnic Uzbeks. And this not all well-known fact in May 1992 became the subject of discussion at a closed session of the Parliament of Turkmenistan. Some concern of his leadership was also caused by political instability in some CIS states, which under certain circumstances could spread to the territory of Turkmenistan.

In addition, according to forecast data, the bowels of Turkmenistan store almost a third of the world’s hydrocarbon reserves.

Immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it would be very reasonable to think of the Central Asian region as a single community with a single set of problems that could be solved using coordinated and integrated solutions. Now, ten years later, the situation has clearly changed. The development of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan went on different paths, each of these countries acquired its own appearance and developed a unique style of decision-making.

The emergence of new states in Central Asia has fundamentally changed the political picture not only in the region, but also beyond its borders. If, as part of the Soviet Union, Central Asia was the periphery of a single geopolitical space, then with its collapse it moved to the center of political processes taking place in the vast expanses of Eurasia, and became the object of geopolitical confrontation between world and regional centers of power.

The countries of the region almost from scratch began to search for their new identity and forms of domestic political structure, adequately reflecting the interests of society. In addition, they should have developed priority foreign policy directions, which, first of all, should have led to the creation of a system of sustainable state and regional security and determine the place and role of each state in the field of international relations.

Attempts made within the CIS, the Central Asian Economic Union, the Shanghai Forum and other integration entities to create a regional security system that guarantees the military-political and socio-economic stability of the region have not yet yielded the expected results. The likelihood that such a system will appear in the near future is extremely small. The main reasons for this are the mutually supervising economic potential of the countries of the region, mutually exclusive tactics and a strategy for achieving their economic well-being, which prompts an independent search for foreign economic and foreign policy partners. At the same time, geopolitical unity is forgotten, the feasibility of consolidated actions aimed at ensuring regional security is ignored. Moreover, there are discrepancies in the assessment of security threats, with all the ensuing consequences.

Turkmenistan, like other post-Soviet countries, became independent completely unexpectedly: neither its leadership nor the population even thought about the possibility of such a turn of events. Indicative in this regard is the result of the 1989 All-Union referendum. Then over 90% of the population of the republic voted for the preservation of the USSR and for staying in its composition.

With such initial conditions for creating their own statehood, any sluggishness of political leadership could lead to the fact that the country would become an apple of discord between regional centers of power or turn into a raw material appendage of any of these centers of power.

The idea of the Afghan route began in May 1992, during business consultations between President of Turkmenistan Saparmurad Niyazov and Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif during a working session of heads of government of IVF countries in Ashgabat. The result of this meeting was an agreement on the construction of a gas pipeline and a highway connecting the two countries through the territory of Afghanistan. Subsequently, at different levels, similar discussions took place in Pakistani cities on February 6—7 in Kuwait and November 28, 1993 in Islamabad.

In April 1994, during a visit to Ashgabat, a delegation of the Pakistani Air Force, led by Vice Marshal Farug Usman Haider, reached an agreement on bilateral military cooperation and the Pakistani side took over the organization of the Turkmenistan Air Force Academy. In addition, Pakistan has pledged to train military specialists for Turkmenistan in its educational institutions.

In March 1995, in Islamabad, Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and president of Turkmenistan Saparmurad Niyazov signed a memorandum on the construction of a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan and on the restoration of the highway from Pakistani Khaman to the city of Turgundi on the Afghan-Turkmen border.

Such intensive meetings and the agreements reached during them indicate the interest and determination of both parties in the implementation of their goals.

After the Taliban (organization prohibited on the territory of the Russian Federation) captured Kabul and the troops of Ahmad Shah Masood and General Dostum retreated to the north of the country, the leaders of the Central Asian republics began to take measures to strengthen the security system of the region.

On October 4, 1996, an emergency consultative meeting of the heads of state of Central Asia and Russia was convened in Almaty to discuss the situation in the region after the capture of Kabul by the Taliban (organization prohibited on the territory of the Russian Federation). The presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and the chairman of the Russian government attended the meeting. As a result, a joint statement was signed expressing concern about the events in Afghanistan and noting that any possible actions that undermine stability on the borders of Afghanistan with the CIS states will receive an adequate response. The leadership of the CIS Collective Security Council was instructed to create a task force to analyze the situation, as well as prepare proposals for its stabilization near the borders of Afghanistan, and the CIS Council of Defense Ministers was asked to develop proposals for ensuring security at these borders. In addition, the participants in the Almaty meeting recommended that the UN Security Council immediately hold a meeting on the Afghan issue.

§1. COOPERATION BETWEEN TURKMENISTAN AND CENTRAL ASIAN COUNTRIES

Turkmenistan’s policy of permanent neutrality has become an important factor in maintaining regional security and stability. Turkmenistan, using its capabilities as a neutral state, pursued an active constructive policy in the region aimed at creating conditions for a peaceful, non-violent resolution of contradictions and conflicts. The Turkmen principled position of non-interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan prepared conditions that made it possible to begin the process of finding a political dialogue between the warring Afghan parties. In March 1999, representatives of the Taliban and the Northern Alliance sat first at the negotiating table in Ashgabat. Such an active and constructive policy of Turkmenistan, pursued in line with the efforts of the UN, gained him high authority among neighboring states and in the region as a whole, rightfully nominated Ashgabat to the category of recognized peacekeeping centers in Asia.

In its economic policy, Turkmenistan has proclaimed and consistently implements the principle of “open doors,” aimed at mutually beneficial cooperation with all states, creating equal conditions for the effective operation of foreign companies on its territory, regardless of their nationality and form of ownership. This approach of Turkmenistan ensures the steady interest of foreign partners in trade and economic cooperation with Turkmenistan, promotes the formation of a healthy investment climate in the country, and ensures the progressive development of its economy.