Turkmenistan–United States relations

Turkmenistan – United States relations

Turkmenistan
United States

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

History

Secretary Kerry Shakes Hands With President Berdimuhamedov at the Oguzkhan Presidential Palace in Ashgabat, 2015

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 Berdimuhamedow resurrected the idea of a Trans-Caspian gas pipeline, explicitly refusing to rule out the possibility of constructing such a pipeline in the future.

Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov with Barack and Michelle Obama

The United States and Turkmenistan continue to disagree about the latter state'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.

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

Visit of President Niyazov to USA on stamps of Turkmenistan, 1993

See also

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Department of State website http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/index.htm (Background Notes).

Media related to Turkmenistan – United States relations at Wikimedia Commons


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