Turkmenistan–United States relations

Turkmenistan-United States relations are bilateral relations between Turkmenistan and the United States.

History

For several years, Turkmenistan was a key player in the U.S. Caspian Basin Energy Initiative, which sought to facilitate negotiations between commercial partners and the Governments of Turkmenistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey to build a pipeline under the Caspian Sea and export Turkmen gas to the Turkish domestic energy market and beyond--the so-called Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline (TCGP). However, the Government of Turkmenistan essentially removed itself from the negotiations in 2000 by refusing all offers by its commercial partners and making unrealistic demands for billion-dollar "pre-financing." Following a tripartite summit with the presidents of Russia and Kazakhstan in May 2007 in which gas was a major topic, however, the new President Berdimuhammedow resurrected the idea of a Trans-Caspian gas pipeline, explicitly refusing to rule out the possibility of constructing such a pipeline in the future.

The United States and Turkmenistan continue to disagree about the country's path toward democratic and economic reform. The United States has publicly advocated industrial privatization, market liberalization, and fiscal reform, as well as legal and regulatory reforms to open up the economy to foreign trade and investment, as the best way to achieve prosperity and true independence and sovereignty.

U.S. criticism of the Government of Turkmenistan's crackdown against perceived sources of political opposition after the November 2002 motorcade attack led to a marked downturn in bilateral relations between the Governments of the United States and Turkmenistan. However, currently the Government of Turkmenistan is interested in engaging with the United States in several areas, including security and energy issues. In order to secure and maintain this engagement, the government has been willing to take some small steps forward in democratic reform, such as lifting exit visas and allowing the registration of some religious minorities. Its human rights record, however, remains poor. Diplomatic missions from various countries and international organizations have joined together to persuade the Government of Turkmenistan to improve its human rights practices, but their efforts have not yet led to significant improvements overall.

Principal U.S. Officials include:
* Ambassador--vacant
* Charge d'Affaires--Ambassador Richard Hoagland
* DCM--Sylvia Curran
* Political-Economic Officer--Heather A. Troutman
* Public Affairs Officer--Andrew B. Paul
* Defense Attache--LTC James F. Zink
* Consul of the United States of America--Elizabeth W. Webster
* Management Officer--Jonathan R. Bayat
* USAID Director--G. Ashley Moretz
* Peace Corps Director--Stephen Kutzy

The U.S. Embassy, USAID, and the Peace Corps are located in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

See also

* Foreign relations of Turkmenistan
* Foreign relations of the United States

References

StateDept [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35884.htm]