Turkmenistan

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and visiting EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini held talks in Tehran (April 2016), photo by Hamed Malekpour, licensed under CC BY 4.0

Escalation of Global Gas War. Part IX

Ruben Kruglov

 

Some analysts have immediately began to question why the oil and gas dependence of Europe on Iran is better than the same dependence on Russia. What are the benefits? But their voices – so far! – are not really heard

 

Problems of Turkmenistan, which we have discussed in the previous part of this study, are not limited to the budget deficit, street protests of the population, the competition between TANAP and TAPI pipelines, and the threats of intrusion of ‘Islamic State’ militants from Afghanistan. The point is also that, according to some experts, the discord in the Turkmen elite is growing. In particular, analysts, who understand the particular characteristic of Turkmenistan in-depth, say that, in this country, the ‘street’ protests are, in principle, impossible without the direct sanction of the certain leaders of the elite.


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US State Secretary Kerry Shakes Hands With President of Turkmenistan Berdimuhamedov at the Oguzkhan Presidential Palace in Ashgabat. November 3, 2015

Escalation of the Global Gas War. Part VIII

Ruben Kruglov

Turkmenistan’s attempts to expand its gas supply through Uzbekistan to the gas-poor republics of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan proved unsuccessful due to resistance from Tashkent, whose relations with Dushanbe and Bishkek have grown progressively less friendly.

Where will the Turkmen gas go?

Turkmenistan’s gas reserves are appraised as the fourth-largest in the world, after Russia, Iran and Qatar. The republic has large gas fields in the East and Northeast. Back since Soviet times, this gas has been supplied to Russia, and from there to Europe. The republic’s central and western regions have promising gas fields, including those on the Caspian shelf. The Southeast, near the border with Afghanistan, is home to the old, large Dauletabad gas field.


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