Turkmenistan Avoids Getting Too Close to Iran
Turkmenistan Avoids Getting Too Close to Iran
Turkmenistan and Iran continue to build on their relationship, but NBCentralAsia experts say a closed political alignment with Tehran would disrupt Ashgabat's plans to diversify its energy export routes, so future cooperation will probably be limited to the economic sphere.
President Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov paid an official visit to Iran on June 16, where agreement was reached on Iran’s role in a road and railway construction project that will link Kazakstan with the Gulf.
The presidents of Turkmenistan, Iran and Kazakstan will sign the “North-South Corridor” agreement when they meet at a Caspian states summit in Tehran, the date of which is yet to be fixed.
Turkmenistan and Iran share a border over 1,000 kilometres long and are already linked by highways and railways that lead from Iran to Uzbekistan, and share the water from a reservoir on the river Tejen which runs across the frontier.
According to Turkmenistan’s economy ministry, dozens of large economic projects worth over 500 million US dollars are currently going ahead, and around 100 enterprises backed by Iranian investment are involved.
Iran increased its purchase order for Turkmen gas from eight to 14 billion cubic metres this year, making it the second largest consumer after Russia.
Under former President Saparmurat Niazov, who died suddenly last December, contact with Tehran was limited to talks on gas supplies and the legal status of the Caspian Sea.
The arrival of Berdymuhammedov as his successor has seen a revival in relations, but NBCentralAsia experts believe the relationship will continue to revolve around existing economic forms of cooperation.
Greater political integration would mean that Ashgabat would have to deal with Tehran’s hostility to outsiders operating in the Caspian energy sector.
Rovshan Ibrahimov, an expert on international relations at the Qafqaz University in Baku, explains that Iran could stand in the way of Turkmenistan’s plans to diversify its energy exports in all directions, which include a pipeline under the Caspian Sea that would send gas to Europe.
“Turkmenistan’s desire to diversify its gas export routes to the West and improve relations with Azerbaijan give Iran grounds for concern that the status of the sea could be decided without it,” said Ibrahimov.
Mars Sariev, an NBCentralAsia expert on Turkmenistan, agrees, saying that Ashgabat will restrict cooperation with Iran to bilateral economic projects in order to safeguard foreign investment in its oil and gas fields.
“It’s currently more important for Turkmenistan to win investment from western partners to develop fields and sign pipeline contracts,” said Sariev.
Orozbek Moldaliev, director of the Central Asian Centre for Politics, Religion and Security, believes that as a newcomer to the international arena after the Niazov years of isolation, Berdymuhammedov will look to Russia and the United States, both of which have sensitivities about countries that partner with Tehran.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
President Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov paid an official visit to Iran on June 16, where agreement was reached on Iran’s role in a road and railway construction project that will link Kazakstan with the Gulf.
The presidents of Turkmenistan, Iran and Kazakstan will sign the “North-South Corridor” agreement when they meet at a Caspian states summit in Tehran, the date of which is yet to be fixed.
Turkmenistan and Iran share a border over 1,000 kilometres long and are already linked by highways and railways that lead from Iran to Uzbekistan, and share the water from a reservoir on the river Tejen which runs across the frontier.
According to Turkmenistan’s economy ministry, dozens of large economic projects worth over 500 million US dollars are currently going ahead, and around 100 enterprises backed by Iranian investment are involved.
Iran increased its purchase order for Turkmen gas from eight to 14 billion cubic metres this year, making it the second largest consumer after Russia.
Under former President Saparmurat Niazov, who died suddenly last December, contact with Tehran was limited to talks on gas supplies and the legal status of the Caspian Sea.
The arrival of Berdymuhammedov as his successor has seen a revival in relations, but NBCentralAsia experts believe the relationship will continue to revolve around existing economic forms of cooperation.
Greater political integration would mean that Ashgabat would have to deal with Tehran’s hostility to outsiders operating in the Caspian energy sector.
Rovshan Ibrahimov, an expert on international relations at the Qafqaz University in Baku, explains that Iran could stand in the way of Turkmenistan’s plans to diversify its energy exports in all directions, which include a pipeline under the Caspian Sea that would send gas to Europe.
“Turkmenistan’s desire to diversify its gas export routes to the West and improve relations with Azerbaijan give Iran grounds for concern that the status of the sea could be decided without it,” said Ibrahimov.
Mars Sariev, an NBCentralAsia expert on Turkmenistan, agrees, saying that Ashgabat will restrict cooperation with Iran to bilateral economic projects in order to safeguard foreign investment in its oil and gas fields.
“It’s currently more important for Turkmenistan to win investment from western partners to develop fields and sign pipeline contracts,” said Sariev.
Orozbek Moldaliev, director of the Central Asian Centre for Politics, Religion and Security, believes that as a newcomer to the international arena after the Niazov years of isolation, Berdymuhammedov will look to Russia and the United States, both of which have sensitivities about countries that partner with Tehran.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
