By Knox Thames and Cathy Cosman
Following a potentially significant change in U.S. policy, what comes next for the Central Asian country?
Recently, the State Department announced a potentially significant change in U.S. policy towards Turkmenistan when it was designated it a “country of particular concern” (CPC) for particularly severe violations of religious freedom. The move came as a surprise to many Central Asia hands who may have asked “why?”
Likely few Americans have heard of Turkmenistan. It is the most isolated of the former Soviet Union states. Its large territory is rich in natural gas but most of its five million people are poor. Turkmen are predominantly Sunni Muslim and millions of Turkmen live in neighboring Iran, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. A few weeks ago, ISIS attacked a Shi’a Turkmen village in Iraq (PDF).
The country’s first president, Saparmurat Niyazov, oversaw one of the world’s most repressive states. Virtually no independent public activity was allowed. Turkmenistan’s public life was dominated by Niyazov’s quasi-religious personality cult, as set out in his book the Rukhnama. Late in Niyazov’s long quixotic reign the U.S. threat of CPC designation induced him to make some legal reforms, register several non-Muslim religious groups, and release conscientious objectors. But Turkmenistan was still far from fully respecting freedom of religion or belief and other human rights.
Read the full story at The Diplomat