トルクメニスタン

6/15/06
Freedom House Report Highlights “Governance Gap” in Central Asia, Caucasus

A study released June 13 by Freedom House focuses attention on a "governance gap" in energy-rich states in the Caucasus and Central Asia.

The report, titled Nations in Transit 2006, identifies several disturbing trends in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan and other nations in the European Union’s "Eastern neighborhood," including weak political institutions, plummeting standards, expanding limits on press freedom and rampant corruption. The accumulation of wealth, through the development of energy resources, does not stand to foster stable societies, the report suggests.

"National leaders in these countries appear not to understand that improving accountability will provide citizens what they want – prosperity and rule of law – and would give their states more options internationally," the report’s editor, Jeannette Goehring said in a written statement.

"Instead, they are taking advantage of high energy prices by building authoritarian regimes," Goehring continued. The report also singles out Russia for criticism over President Vladimir Putin’s evident disdain for democratization. The Kremlin’s backsliding is all the more serious, given Russia’s broad political, economic and social influence throughout the countries of the former Soviet Union.

Turkmenistan

President Saparmurat Niyazov wields total control over Turkmenistan’s political, economic and social affairs. The only immediate threat to his personal and arbitrary rule is his own health concerns, according to the Nations in Transit 2006 report by Freedom House.

Turkmenistan scored an abysmal 6.96 out of a potential 7 in a democratization rating system developed by Freedom House where 7 indicates a complete absence of democratic practices and the rule of law. Constitutional subversion and a "lavish cult of personality unrivaled in the former Soviet Union and, indeed, most of the world" have characterized Turkmenistan under the self-proclaimed Turkmenbashi.

"Niyazov has undertaken reforms aimed primarily centralizing his own rule, allowing him to exercise power without restraint," the June 13 report stated. Turkmenistan’s rating for national democratic governance was 7.

"A major tool used to buttress the president’s lavish personality cult and to create a pseudo-state ideology is the Ruhnama (Book of the Soul), which has been accorded the de facto status of a holy book on par with the Koran," the report asserted. The book, purportedly written by Niyazov, is now a compulsory part of all state exams for public-sector employees and students.

Meanwhile, the country’s two largest religious groups, Sunni Muslim and Russian Orthodox, have been relentlessly repressed. Unregistered religious and civil groups were subjected to police raids, detentions, fines and other forms of harassment. Turkmenistan’s rating for civil society remained unchanged at 7.

Elections are "thoroughly stage managed" and have "little to no bearing on democratization process." According to the report, "Electoral officials in Turkmenistan engage widely in irregular procedures, such as stuffing ballot boxes and making door-to- door home visits during which voters are urged to cast their ballots."

Turkmenistan’s rating for electoral process stood at 7, as does its rating for local governance. Recent legislative changes will not result in significant devolution of power to local governments, the report said.

Citizens of Turkmenistan are likely to be ignorant of the political changes that have swept across other post-Soviet states such as Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. "All state media in Turkmenistan are devoted primarily to extolling the activities and achievements of the president and are devoid of independent information."

The report added that "communication with the outside world was further obstructed through the prohibition of the import and circulation of all foreign print media, including those produced in neighboring countries." Turkmenistan’s rating for independent media was 7. Judicial framework and independence also scored 7, as the office of the Prosecutor General was found to act "as an important instrument of repression for the regime."

Corruption exists at all levels of society in Turkmenistan. "The dizzying pace at which governmental officials are regularly replaced, coupled with an increased, has meant that newly appointed officials attempt to acquire perks and exploit the privileges of their offices in record time."

A move to place all gas exports under the direct control of the president, on the pretext that it would prevent corrupt officials from exploiting it, is likely to raise corruption levels even further. "No contract will be valid without my signature," the president said in December 2005 with the result that Turkmenistan’s rating for corruption deteriorated from 6.50 to 6.75.

Posted June 15, 2006 © Eurasianet

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EXCAVATION WORKS ON AK-DEPE SETTLEMENT STARTED IN ASHGABAT  -- Archeologist started to carry out excavations on the ancient Ak-depe settlement located in the south-western outskirts of Ashgabat. Ak-depe settlement is a vast (several hectares) hilly area, with a majestic artificial mound rising in its centre. The archeological diggings are carried out by the expedition organised by the State Institute of Cultural Heritage of Turkmenistan, Central Asia and the East.

       Ak-depe plays an important role in reconstructing of the chronology of the Turkmen capital. Ashgabat is known to be 2500 years of age. However the first settlements on the territory of the city can be dated back to the 5th millennium B.C. In the 3rd millennium B.C. the city occupied the territory of about 13 hectares.

       In spite of the fact that excavations of Ak-depe settlement are in their initial stage, archeologists have already obtained numerous materials for research and most likely for sensational conclusions. Thus in the layers dating to the Middle Ages, the archeologists found a winepress where grape juice drifted to big pots – khums buried in the ground on both sides of the winepress premises, as well as remnants of Bronze Age pottery with round apertures for keeping fruits.

       In Turkmenistan there are thousands of historical and cultural monuments "depe" and each of them contains the remains of ancient settlements, palaces, caravanserais and powerful fortresses, and sometimes even whole towns.

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In mid May, Turkmenistan’s state television channel reported that the minister of textile production had been sacked for committing, in the words of the country’s mercurial despot Saparmurat Niyazov, "many dirty acts." Such reports seem almost a weekly occurrence in Turkmenistan, a country seemingly stuck in a permanent purge cycle. The constant personnel turnover has some experts warning of potential instability in Turkmenistan.

Turkmenistan is mostly known internationally for its natural-gas exports, but before its vast energy reserves began being developed the country’s top export commodity was cotton. Turkmenistan still is associated with finished textile items, especially carpets. Thus, the firing of the textiles minister attracted the particular attention of Turkmenistan watchers. In firing the minister, Dortguly Aydogdiyev, Niyazov engaged in what has become a ritual of public humiliation. State television broadcast a cabinet session May 16 during which the Turkmen leader ridiculed Aydogdiyev for incompetence and corrupt practices. "I warned him more than once to stop wrongdoing and take the right path, learn the sector thoroughly," Niyazov said. "The bad thing is that he has no knowledge of the sector, nor does he know economics at all."

If Niyazov was truly disenchanted with the minister’s professionalism, he has no one to blame but himself. A major element of the vast cult of personality built by Niyazov involves the constant rotation of government personnel. Indeed, just a few days before Aydogdiyev got the axe, Niyazov fired his fifth head of the country’s Central Bank in almost as many years. The problem is, after almost 15 years of constant reshuffling, there are few qualified people left to run the country.

"The effects of Niyazov’s destabilizing personnel policy are now obvious. They fuel an atmosphere of fear in government circles that impedes informed policy-making. They also severely erode the levels of experience and professional expertise of professional cadres across the board," said Erika Dailey, director of the Turkmenistan Project at the Open Society Institute. [EurasiaNet also operates under the auspices of OSI].

"In a region where it is common for people to pay enormous bribes in order to buy their way into senior government jobs, in Turkmenistan most people go unwillingly because of the high likelihood that they will soon be fired, disgraced, stripped of their property, and imprisoned," Dailey added.

The situation only stands to get worse. Niyazov’s totalitarian ways have decimated the country’s education system and health-care sector. Compulsory education ends after only nine years, and the main textbook used in schools is the Ruhnama, a tome outlining the true Turkmen way of living that was supposedly penned by Niyazov. The Turkmen leader has also scaled back Russian-language instruction, thus limiting higher educational opportunities for students wanting to study abroad, and restricting citizens’ ability to communicate with the outside world. In the health sector, Niyazov, who also goes by the title Turkmenbashi, or leader of the Turkmen, ordered the closure of most hospitals and clinics outside of Ashgabat, and summarily dismissed thousands of nurses and doctors, replacing them with untrained military conscripts. Given all the moves, the next generation of Turkmen leaders stands to be even less educated and less healthy than the incumbents.

Niyazov’s personnel policy was examined during a May 22 Open Forum, sponsored by the Turkmenistan Project. The featured speakers -- Vitalii Ponomarev of Moscow’s Memorial Human Rights Center and Farid Tuhbatullin, chairman of the exiled Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights – voiced concern about looming instability in Turkmenistan, related directly to the dearth of qualified government officials.

Turkmenistan may well muddle along as long as Niyazov is alive, his personality cult providing the country with a veneer of stability. But Turkmenistan could easily be plunged into chaos when Niyazov dies, or, for whatever reason, can no longer act as a strongman. His departure from the scene will reveal the country’s leadership vacuum, in which any sense of political continuity has been lost, forum speakers asserted. Apart from the president, "there is not a single person in government today whose experience dates back to the 1990s," Ponomarev said.

And even if a political talent is waiting quietly in the wings, there is no clear-cut succession process, raising the likelihood of a fierce power struggle in which the winner stands to be the individual possessing the most brawn, rather than brains. "Whoever has Niyazov’s favor isn’t capable of assuming power," Tuhbatullin said.

Underscoring the devastating nature of the personnel policy, Dailey pointed to the example of a May 17 United Nations human rights review that focused on Turkmenistan’s treatment of women. Ashgabat declined to make any women’s rights experts available to represent the Turkmen government during the session, fuelling speculation that none exist in government structures.

The state of Niyazov’s health has been the subject of intense speculation in recent years. He has been rumored to suffer from heart disease, requiring treatment by a team of German doctors. But given the secretive nature of his regime, there is no way to independently verify his health status. On May 15, Turkmen state television reported that Niyazov had undergone his annual check-up by a joint team of Turkmen and German specialists. "Following the examination, the doctors said our esteemed leader’s health is very good," the report said.

The international community’s ability to address Turkmenistan’s leadership crisis is limited. Niyazov has gone to great lengths to seal the country off from outside cultural forces, enhancing his ability to resist international pressure to change his ways. In addition, the inability of foreign experts to gain entry to Turkmenistan is hampering development of instability-prevention strategies and emergency response planning, Ponomarev indicated.

Posted May 25, 2006 © Eurasianet

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　麻生外相は５日、東京都内で中央アジア４カ国の外相と「中央アジア＋日本」外相会合を開き、この地域の国々とは初めてとなる行動計画に署名した。中央アジア地域で影響力を強める中国やロシアをにらみ、エネルギー資源確保の観点からもこの地域への日本の関与を深める狙いだ。行動計画では民主化や市場経済化の重要性を確認。日本を含む協力の枠組みづくりを柱としている。

　ウズベキスタン、タジキスタン、キルギス各国の外相と、カザフスタンの外務次官が出席。中立外交のトルクメニスタンは不参加だった。麻生氏は終了後の共同記者会見で「中央アジアと日本が互いに関心と期待を抱き、重視し合っていることを確認した。これは国際社会にもよいメッセージになる」と述べた。

　行動計画では（１）政治対話（２）地域内協力（３）ビジネス振興（４）知的対話（５）文化交流・人的交流――の各分野で日本の協力を約束。テロや麻薬対策として、各国の国境管理のための機材供与や人材育成支援、ロシアを経由しない石油や天然ガスの輸送道路やパイプライン建設への環境整備などを検討する。

　また、この枠組みでの初の首脳会合の開催も視野に、外相会合の定期化を確認。中央アジア４カ国が日本の国連安保理常任理事国入りを支持することも明記している。

　同会合で麻生氏は「広域的視点」を強調し、中央アジアに隣接するアフガニスタンの外相もゲストとして招いた。

　中央アジア各国との同外相会合は０４年に日本の提案で始まり、今回が２回目。

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