The OSI Turkmenistan News Brief features a digest of the week's news from a spectrum of sources, with an analysis of recent developments. It is distributed free of charge every Friday in English and Russian. Subscribe or unsubscribe to the Turkmenistan News Brief using the email entry box located on the left of this page.

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Analysis

In the most important change in defense policy since taking office, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov announced that a new military doctrine will be drafted, with reduction of both the numbers of soldiers and their time of service. University students will now serve 12 months instead of 18, contract personnel are to replace some soldiers, and modern equipment will further eliminate military jobs. The downsizing of the armed forces is to be accompanied by improved living conditions and equipment for troops. Modernization of the army is seen as strengthening Turkmenistan’s defense: “People who cannot maintain their own army, will have to maintain someone else's,” said the president, quoting a Turkmen proverb. To reinforce the need for change, two military officials were reprimanded for poor supply of recruits and inadequate maintenance of border stations, and immediate construction of new installations was ordered.

Another visible sign of change in Turkmenistan, RFE/RL reported, is the removal of portraits of past leader Sapurmurat Niyazov from the walls of official buildings and television broadcasts. A Turkmen government official confirmed that Berdymukhamedov has ordered the removal of all portraits of Niyazov. Yet critics are concerned that a new personality cult could be emerging, and that the president is enjoying foreign praise for the most modest of modifications. Portraits of Berdymukhamedov are steadily replacing those of Niyazov, although the current Turkmen leader insists his picture be hung only on the inside of buildings rather than the outside.

Other visible features of authoritarian rule remain, particularly strong-arm tactics used on opponents and subordinates with little indication of their offenses. Numerous heads have rolled under the new Turkmen dispensation, sometimes because bureaucrats were too visibly associated with the past regime, sometimes to evoke change by shuffling personnel. This week, the prosecutor general and Supreme Court chairman were publicly fired on television and rebuked for unspecified abuses of office, and the national security minister was reprimanded for poor selection and training of personnel, along with his Mary district chief.

In a stark reminder of the continued presence of political prisoners and imprisoned officials fallen from favor, Amnesty International reported this week that Niyazov’s lawful successor, former Speaker of Parliament Ovezgeldy Atayev , along with his wife, remained in prison, as did the influential former chief of Niyazov’s presidential security service. Those charged in connection with an alleged assassination plot in 2002 still remain incommunicado.

While keeping up an intense schedule of foreign diplomacy – the Turkmen leader plans to travel to Uzbekistan next week for a summit with his counterpart – Berdymukhamedov has increasingly turned attention to domestic reforms. A US $4 billion program to improve the plight of Turkmenistan’s impoverished villages is now under way. As the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) has learned recently, the challenge is staggering: many rural areas lacking running water and electricity while suffering rampant disease and malnutrition. While the president magnanimously dispensed with a gift of US $10 for every Turkmen woman to celebrate International Women’s Day, maternal and infant mortality in Turkmenistan remain among the highest in the world.

State television got an injection of US $2.7 million of modern equipment, even though what reporting exists on the realities of Turkmenistan is still being done by foreign media, international human rights groups, emigres, and the opposition.

Digest

Many of the primary news and information sources that inform the above analysis are noted (with weblinks) in Part 2 of the Turkmenistan News Brief, available for download below. This week's digest includes the following:

International Relations

a. US Urges Turkmenistan to Diversify Gas Exports

b. OSCE Assisting Turkmenistan to Fight Money Laundering, Terrorism

c. Turkmen-Azerbaijani Commission Meets in Baku

Domestic Developments

a. Past Turkmen Dictator’s Personality Cult Being Dismantled

b. Turkmen Villagers Skeptical of Government’s Renovation Plans

c. Turkmen Leader Replaces Prosecutor-General, Urges Military Reforms

d. Army Officials Reprimanded by President for Poor Supply of Soldiers

e. Turkmen National Security Minister Reprimanded for Lack of Oversight

f. Amnesty International Report Recalls Forgotten Turkmen Political Prisoners

g. Turkmen Women Receive $10 Cash Gift on Mother’s Day from President

Economic News

a. TV Centers of Turkmenistan to Receive Equipment Worth US $2.7 Million