Recently, Vadim Tyulpanov, the chairman of the Federation Council Committee for Regulations and Organization of Parliamentary Activity, has conducted talks in Ashkhabad with the speaker of the Turkmen parliament, Akja Nurberdiyewa. Considering the specificity of the Central Asian country, we can speak about formality and diplomatic ethics; but the point was that President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow imposed a duty of settling such a painful issue as rights of individuals with multiple citizenship (people who have citizenships of both Russia and Turkmenistan) on the parliament. Today the Constitution of Turkmenistan forbids dual citizenship, and 9600 people have found themselves in a difficult situation. The next question touched on in the talks was simplification of the visa regime for Russians who would like to spend a vacation in the Turkmen resort of Avaza on the Caspian Sea. Shokhrat Kadyrov, the senior scientist of the Center for Studying General Problems of the Modern East of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the RAS, PhD (History), commented on the essence of the talks for Vestnik Kavkaza.
- The problem of people with dual citizenship appeared during the presidency of Saparmurat Niyzxov, Turkmenbashi. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, about 18 thousand Russian soldiers remained on Turkmen territory. People were confused: the common state had dissolved; Russia, the successor of the USSR, failed to provide them with jobs and good living standards. And there were not only 18 thousand soldiers, but also their families. So there were many more people who turned out to be in a vacuum (according to the population census of 1989, 340 thousand Russian-speaking people lived in Turkmenistan; today there are about 100 thousand). At the same time, Turkmenbashi, who was worried about the security of the country, decided that the military personnel who stayed in Turkmenistan could have helped to solve the problem. And then the law on dual citizenship was adopted; Russia and Turkmenistan signed the agreement on the combined command of the national army. Russian president Boris Yeltsin was issued Turkmen passport No 1 during the ceremony of signing the agreement. However, soon it was discovered that this was a timely resolution. In 2002 a famous incident took place, which was interpreted as an attempt on the life of Turkmenbashi. Dozens of people were arrested and sentenced to prison for long or life terms. We don’t know about the fate of some of them even today. Many of them had dual Russian-Turkmen citizenship. It is difficult to say how this incident affected the attitude of the willful Turkmenbashi towards the Russian military personnel who remained to serve in Turkmenistan, and whether it affected him at all, but in a number of the measures that have been taken immediately after the said incident, or after some time, there was the abolition of dual citizenship. It happened in 2003. At the talks with Vladimir Putin, he offered very favorable conditions for the purchase of Turkmen gas, but their implementation was linked to the obligatory denunciation of the agreement on dual citizenship by the Russian side.
A situation that was already so difficult became even more complicated when the Russian State Duma refused to carry out the denunciation, and the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that there would be no changes on the issue of dual citizenship. People continued to receive Russian passports and were trapped. Unilaterally, Turkmenistan refused to recognize dual citizenship and made corresponding amendments to the Constitution. In practice, this was reflected in the fact that Russian passport holders could not get Turkmen passports. And then a decision to replace international passports with biometric ones was made, and to issue them only to those who renounced their Russian citizenship. Several birds were killed with one stone – on top of that, the opposition, extruded abroad, lost the opportunity to return to their homeland.
- How realistic is the possibility that the proposals of the Russian senator will be accepted by Ashgabat? And why did the president of Turkmenistan hand such a serious issue over to the parliament?
- Berdimuhamedow had already refused Russian side on the issue of acceptance of its military aid. Another presidential "no" to Moscow could further complicate relations, so the right to examine this issue was given to the parliament. The chances that the proposals brought to Ashgabat by the Russian senator will be accepted are small. If, for example, the Turkmen side can consider the proposal to consider extending the deadline for making decisions on the choice of citizenship, then an alternative, according to which Turkmenistan is offered to change the legislation and allow dual citizenship will not cause anything other than a tightening of Ashgabat's position – this is almost always the case when someone tries to impose his will on someone. However, if the Russian side proposes to refocus its tourists from Turkish and Egyptian beaches to Avaza as compensation, it's just not serious. Moreover, this issue is related to a change of legislative regulations – simplification of the visa regime.
- And what's the problem with simplifying the visa regime if you already have the Avaza resort and have an interest in the arrival of Russian tourists?
- Turkmenistan is clearly not ready to change its rigid visa regime. And there won't be the slightest mass reorientation from Egyptian and Turkish resorts to the coast of the Caspian Sea.
- What prevents people who chose Russian citizenship from leaving Turkmenistan? And what has caused the strong desire of the Turkmen side to end this once and for all, creating problems for ordinary people and risking further complicating relations with Russia?
- The case, it seems to me, is in the absence of desire. In terms of socio-economic conditions, Turkmenistan is a relatively prosperous country, and people don't know what awaits them in Russia. And they try to maintain the status of dual nationals for a little bit longer. In its turn, Ashgabat wants to resolve the issue of dual nationals, since it really fears a repetition of the Crimean scenario – a desire to protect the rights of compatriots will suddenly appear, and what will happen then?! There is also the historical background. Turkmenistan has quite serious "Russian heritage". The city of Krasnovodsk (now it is Turkmenbashi), the former capital, was founded by Russian generals, just like Ashgabat. The Ogurchinsky Islands were bought by Russian industrialists two centuries ago. Now they are part of Turkmenistan. It is necessary to take the fact that Turkmenistan is an ethnocratic state into account, and there is no interest in national minorities, especially if they have the potential to affect the situation. But Russia has its own interests – the Russian-speaking community can become a guide to expanding influence at the right time. As I see it, the issue will be resolved over a long time, the sides will seek compromise, but one thing is certain: the resolution of the dual nationals problem in one direction or another will mark the beginning of a new period of Turkmen-Russian relations, which are in decline right now.
