Turkmen Diplomacy Takes Root

 President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov completed a two-day visit to Iran, making this the fourth country he has visited since becoming the Turkmen leader. As Arkady Dubnov notes in a Vremya Novostei article, Iran was the first country that Niyazov visited as the head of state of newly independent Turkmenistan in 1992. Berdymukhammedov’s foreign policy priorities appear quite different. The visit appears to have had a strictly formal nature, with the two sides signing a largely meaningless joint communiqué expressing willingness “to expand bilateral relations in political, economic, scientific, technical and cultural spheres,” and “boost cooperation in the energy sphere”. The most pressing issue to be addressed during the visit was the call for a further summit to finalize a convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea. Also, much of the exchanges appeared to hinged on transportation issues. On his return to Ashgabat, Berdymukhammedov said that an agreement had been reached on an initiative to build a railway link from Bereget in Turkmenistan to Gurgen in Iran. The project to create a North-South railway corridor, which would give former Soviet states an important link to Persian Gulf markets, was discussed at a trilateral summit on May 12 between the presidents of Turkmenistan, Russia and Kazakhstan. On Saturday, Iranian car maker Khodro completed a deal with Turkmenistan to export 340 buses worth $30 million. Khodro managing director Manouchehr Manteki said at the signing of the agreement that he anticipated his company gaining a significant foothold in Turkmenistan’s car market. Berdymukhammedov himself was given a gift of a state-of-the-art of car. In all, Berdymukhammedov’s visit does not seem to have had any noteworthy outcome other than that of demonstrating that Turkmenistan has definitively undertaken the path of diplomatic engagement. An essentially meaningless international visit for a Turkmen leader demonstrates some degree of normalisation in the country’s diplomatic politics. If Berdymukhammedov lives up to a promise he made in talks in early June with EU special representative for Central Asia, Pier Morel, the task of repealing the country’s hermit status will almost be complete. Having been to Saudi Arabia, Russia, Kazakhstan and Iran, Berdymukhammedov has only the West to visit to definitively cement his status as an international player.

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