Turkmenistan News Comprehensive news package Due to limited capacity of this site, news stories from 25 November to 7 December only are posted here Assassination Bid Press Briefing by Serdar Durdiev, Official Spokesman of President Niyazov 26 November 2002, 11 AM, Foreign Office conference Room All of you have seen President’s speech (on TV) yesterday. Yesterday we took some steps to investigate this crime. To day the picture has become a bit clear. It has been reported to the president that 16 persons have been arrested in connection with yesterday’s incidents. They have taken part or helped in the incident. Some of them are citizens of Turkmenistan. Investigators have reported that the persons under investigation have admitted that Aklimov provided vehicles and armament while planning and funds were provided by Sheikhmuradov, Hanamov and Orazov. These things are clear from the statements of those who are under arrest. As you know, it is well known as to what is the aim of these people because more than a month ago Hanamov announced that they are preparing a ‘gift’ for the president and this is the gift they brought. About Sheikhmuradov’s statement that they will use all possible methods to destabilize situation in Turkmenistan, that is what they are doing. You also know well the history of Sheikhmuradov. His activities as agent of KGB of USSR during 22 years of service, history of illegal sale of air force planes, history of stealing funds from the treasury of foreign office, all these things are known to you. Aim of this action is to destabilize the situation in the country and pave way for open terrorism against the legal government. There are some points in this case that will be clear during investigations. There are some politicians in Russia who are supporting the opposition. There is a recorded conversation between Orazov and one very high official of Russian government in which Orazov asked his help in escaping Turkmenistan and he was helped in doing so. They are not opposition in real sense of the word; they are criminals. Our prosecutor’s office is looking into their crimes. There will be no mass arrests and no repression in the country [in the wake of this incident]. President is receiving telegraphic messages of support from all over the world. These messages will be published in tomorrow’s papers. Turkmenistan considers it an act of international terrorism and violence. These people will answer for their deeds according to the law of the land. As is usually said, the investigation is going on. I am asking you to be careful in your reporting and avoid political twists and traps. There are some ethnic Georgians in the group that has been arrested. They are not citizens of Turkmenistan and I don’t know their nationality but they are ethnic Georgians. This crime was ordered and organized from abroad that is why we are classifying it as an act of international terrorism. I am not saying that it is from Russian government but all I am saying is that there are some persons or forces in Russian government who are supporting these people. Among the attackers there are some who were injured by the firing of their own colleagues. The Kamaz truck injured one traffic cop; he was hit by the truck and for some distance the truck dragged him and that is why he was injured and is in the hospital. Sapar and all other members of Yklymov’s family are involved in this incident; they are a family of mafiosos. Those 16 who have been arrested are not members of Yklykov’s family; they are hired criminals. It is possible there are more collaborators of this crime. Of course Sheikhmuradov will reject all these charges but the admission of those under arrest is there to indicate that it is his doing. The persons under arrest are saying that immediate organizer is Yklymov but the background command came from others. We are investigating it as a criminal case and there will be no political offshoots or mass repression. Hnaamov is in Germany, Sheikhmuradov is in Czech republic and Orazov is in Latvia. /// nCa Sixteen Georgian Drug Addicts Attempted to Assassinate Niyazov Moscow, 26 Nov—Ashkhabad says yesterday’s assassination attempt on the Turkmenistan president was organized from Moscow More More and more details come to light in connection with the assissnation attempt on Turkmenistan President Saparmurat Niyazov yesterday. PRAVDA.Ru reported yesterday that the investigation would officially declare that the attempt was organized by the opposition leaders. Head of the international information department in the Turkmenistan presidential administration Serdar Durdyev said today that 16 people have already been detained in connection with the attempt on the president’s life. Four of them are Georgian citizens. According to Durdyev, the detained have already given evidence proving that the attempt was organized by the opposition, by the ex-first deputy agriculture minister Saparmurat Yklymov, to be more precise. The man is currently living in Sweden. Moreover, in fact, Serdar Durdyev accuses Russia of sponsoring terrorists. He says: “There are political figures in Russia who sponsored the organizers of an assissnation attempt on a president.” However, no evidence proving the words was given. Turkmenistan President Saparmurat Niyazov is sure that the assassination attempt was committed by drug addicts backed by former governmental officials. It’s quite natural that the opposition denies its connection with the attempt. Saparmurat Yklymov circulated a statement saying that he himself had learned about the assassination attempt on the Turkmentistan president from news reports. The Turkmenistan opposition informs that dozens of relatives of those who had left the republic for political reasons have been recently arrested. However, no official confirmation of this statement can be obtained. /// Pravda.ru Turkmens accuse Russia of role in assassination bid ASHGABAT, 26 Nov—Turkmenistan on Tuesday accused Russia of protecting the plotters of an assassination attempt on Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov, but stopped short of blaming Moscow for arranging the failed killing. "This was ordered from abroad. I can't say that it was done from Russia, but I can say absolutely officially that there are political activists in Russia who protect the organisers and motivators," Niyazov's spokesman Serdar Durdyev told a briefing. A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman declined comment. Niyazov's motorcade was raked by machine gun fire on Monday morning, although he later said he knew nothing about the attempt and was already at work when he was told about it. No one was hurt in the attack. Ties between Russia and the Central Asian former Soviet republic have been strained and rumours first surfaced over a year ago that Moscow was backing a coup against Niyazov, who was offered the presidency for life from his compliant parliament in 1999. Russia is frustrated by what it perceives as Niyazov's obstruction in dividing the mineral wealth of the Caspian Sea, a huge resource base which they share. It is also unhappy with what it sees as his discrimination against ethnic Russians and his perceived failure to defend adequately Turkmenistan's border with Afghanistan, raising fears of refugees flooding into Central Asia and beyond. Niyazov, speaking on state television on Monday, said four former senior officials were behind the attack: former Foreign Minister Boris Shikhmuradov, former central banker Khudoiberdy Orazov, former Deputy Agriculture Minister Sapar Yklymov, and Nurmukhammed Khanamov, a former ambassador to Turkey. Durdyev said on Tuesday Yklymov had organised the weapons used in the plot while the others had financed him. He also singled out Orazov as enjoying Moscow's backing. NAKED TERROR "There are interested politicians in Russia who protect Orazov. There exist recordings of Orazov with one very high official in the Russian government in which Orazov asks him to spirit him out of Turkmenistan. This actually happened when Orazov left the country." "These people have chosen the path of naked terror and violence against Turkmenistan," he said. Durdyev said 16 people had already been arrested, of whom four were ethnic Georgians. Shikhmuradov was one of Niyazov's closest aides from when Turkmenistan achieved independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 as foreign minister for eight years and then ambassador to China. But when Shikhmuradov, a former Soviet diplomat educated in Moscow, was recalled in October 2001, he fled instead to the Russian capital and launched a blistering attack on Niyazov. Analysts said at the time it was inconceivable he would speak out in Moscow without at least tacit Russian backing, further fuelling speculation about a coup. Ashgabat's response was to issue an arrest warrant for Shikhmuradov on a bewildering array of charges, including the theft of military jets worth nearly million. It is still seeking his extradition. Niyazov, known as Turkmenbashi, or Leader of the Turkmen, and more commonly as Turkmenbashi the Great, rules his country with absolute power and encourages a bizarre personality cult. Airports, cities, brands of perfume, even a meteorite are named after him, his pictures and statues are everywhere, and in August parliament overwhelmingly approved a proposal to rename all the months of the year after himself, his mother, and an idiosyncratic spiritual book penned by Turkmenbashi. /// Reuters Sixteen arrested over attack on Turkmen president Ashgabat, 26 Nov—A total of 16 people suspected of taking part in an assassination attempt against Turkmen President Saparmyrat Nyyazow have been detained, the head of the department for international information at the president's office, Serdar Durdyyew, said at a briefing today. He said that four of the [suspected] assassination participants are of Georgian nationality and are not nationals of Turkmenistan. "In Asgabat they are being considered as mercenaries, and the incident itself is considered as an act of international terrorism aimed against the constitutional laws of Turkmenistan and at destabilizing the situation in the country," Durdyyew said. He said that during interrogations of the participants in the attack it had emerged that the direct organizer of the attack on the president's cortege was the former first deputy minister of agriculture of Turkmenistan, Saparmyrat Yklymow [as received; should read Ymamberdi Yklymow, former agriculture minister], who has been living abroad in recent years. Durdyyew said that according to the detainees they had been hired by Yklymow, who had provided them with cars and firearms. Durdyyew described the former deputy prime minister and foreign minister Boris Syhmyradow, the former head of the Central Bank and deputy prime minister, Hudayberdi Orazow, and the former Turkmen ambassador to Turkey, Nurmuhammet Hanamow, as the financial and ideological inspiration for the assassination attempt against the Turkmen leader. [Passage omitted: known details of assassination attempt] /// Interfax 16 Held in Turkmenistan Kill Plot ASHGABAT, 26 Nov—Authorities detained 16 people suspected in an assassination attempt against Turkmen leader Saparmurat Niyazov, a presidential spokesman said Tuesday. Niyazov was driving to work on Monday when a truck cut in front of his car and blocked the path of three accompanying cars. Gunmen opened fire on the convoy from two minibuses and a car, while other gunmen emerged from nearby buildings and fired, said the spokesman, Serdar Durdyev. The president was unharmed, but several people were injured including a military police officer who tried to stop the truck but was run over, the spokesman said. Four of the detained suspects were Georgian nationals allegedly working for Niyazov political opponents living in exile, Durdyev said. Under interrogation, the suspects identified former First Deputy Agriculture Minister Saparmurat Yklymov as the mastermind of the attack, the spokesman said. They said he gave them the vehicles and paid them, Durdyev said. The others behind the attack were former Foreign Minister Boris Shikhmuradov, former Central Bank chief Khudaiberdi Orazov and former ambassador to Turkey Nurmukhammed Khanamov, he said. The four face charges at home -- Shikhmuradov, Orazov, and Khanamov for allegedly stealing state property -- and have taken refuge abroad, including in Russia. Niyazov has ruled Turkmenistan since 1985, when it was still part of the Soviet Union. An authoritarian leader at the center of a cult of personality, he has resisted moves toward democracy and economic reforms and cracked down on dissent. The pro-democracy Open Society Institute, based in New York, warned in a statement Tuesday that Niyazov might use the alleged assassination attempt as an excuse to ``lash out at any opponents, real or imaginary.'' Durdyev said there would be ``no mass repression or persecution'' following the assassination attempt. /// AP Federation Council surprised by Turkmenistan's official statement in Niyazov case Moscow, 26 Nov—The Federation Council of Russia is surprised by a statement made by official Ashgabad that Russian politicians were involved in arranging yesterday's murderous attempt at Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov. Federation Council Speaker Sergey Mironov called this statement a "total absurd." At the same time, Head of the Foreign Committee of the parliament's upper house Mikhail Margelov considers it "such an absurd that it's not even worth commenting on it." "Russia is not a derelict country, planting international terrorism," he said. In the opinion of Head of the Defense and Security Committee Viktor Ozerov, it's investigators' business to determine who is guilty in this case, "but the fact that Turkmenistan is making such official statements seems strange to me." /// RosBusinessConsulting Over 100 people arrested in Turkmenistan - unofficial information Moscow, 26 Nov—NTV report: [Presenter] The attempt on the life of the president of Turkmenistan [Saparmyrat Nyyazow] is obtaining a truly international scale as a result of an initial investigation. Asgabat has prepared for Russia, or rather for some Russian politicians, the unenviable role of sponsors of the organizers of this crime. Moscow, which first maintained silence, later, through its senators, called this absurd. Anton Volskiy reports on the developments today... [Correspondent] In a short space of time, the investigators have managed to uncover a whole terrorist network, the roots of which, as Asgabat says, go to Russia... According to unofficial information, over 100 people have already been arrested in Asgabat, most of them are relatives of opposition leaders who are hiding abroad. However, the Turkmen authorities promise that there will be no repressions or mass arrests. After the news, the state TV channel showed a gala concert. /// NTV Mir, Moscow NIYAZOV, DISSIDENTS TRADE CHARGES AS ARRESTS MOUNT Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov, as widely expected, is taking fast action to exact retribution against those he has accused of trying to assassinate him. Over 100 people were rounded up during the night of November 25-26, according to a Moscow-based human rights monitoring organization. Among those in custody are relatives of Saparmurat Yklimov, one of the opposition leaders singled out by Niyazov as a conspirator. Yklimov, in turn, has accused Niyazov of orchestrating the failed assassination as a pretext for a crackdown. A Niyazov spokesman said November 26 that 16 people had been arrested in connection with a November 25 attack on the president’s motorcade in the capital, Ashgabat. [For background see the EurasiaNet archives]. But the human rights group Memorial, citing unofficial sources, put the number of arrests at over 100. Yklimov and other opposition leaders accused by Niyazov have categorically denied joining a plot to kill the Turkmen leader, who since the Soviet collapse has built a cult of personality that evokes comparisons to the Stalinist era. Niyazov also reportedly accused former Foreign Minister Boris Shikhmuradov, former Central Banker Khudaiberdy Orazov, and former ambassador to Turkey Nurmuhammed Khanamov of complicity in the coup attempt. In the past 12 months, Shikhmuradov has vocally questioned Niyazov’s merits as a head of state from exile in Moscow. Russia has reportedly become impatient with Niyazov’s refusal to debate the division of the Caspian Sea or prosecute the war on terrorism, even as he proposes building a pipeline across neighboring Afghanistan to the Pakistan coast. According to the strana.ru website, Niyazov’s spokesman accused Russian media of legitimizing exiled "activists" living in Russia. Yklimov, a former Deputy Minister of Agriculture exiled in 1994 who lives in Sweden, has accused Niyazov of mounting a fresh campaign of mass repression. He also criticized the president’s coterie for temporarily indulging reports that Niyazov blamed Russian political figures, rather than political figures living in Russia, for the coup – even as he denounced the idea that he and his fellow exiles would ever endorse violence. "Russia has nothing to do with this," he told EurasiaNet in a phone interview. Instead, Yklimov drew comparisons to Nazi Germany. Niyazov’s charges, he said, are "a classic case of fabrication" and "an eerie reminder of events in Germany in 1933 when Hitler set fire to the Reichstag, setting the precedent for the murder of Jews." "We condemn any violence, and we have always supported civilized methods," Yklimov told EurasiaNet, speaking for himself and Shikhmuradov. Shikhmuradov himself was not available for comment. On his web site, he declared that anyone in Turkmenistan might have been driven to homicide. "I have been asked the question ’Who could have fired at Niyazov?’ hundreds of times today," he said. "The answer is simple and frightening: Niyazov deserves as many deadly gunshots as lives and destinies he has ruined. There is no person in Turkmenistan today who would not like to be free of the dictator’s oppression." In his interview with EurasiaNet, though, Yklimov renounced the use of violence for political ends. "As a member of the peaceful opposition, we view opposition activity as an intellectual challenge. People not up to the intellectual argument, [like Niyazov,] are cheating." Yklimov told EurasiaNet that police had arrested nurses caring for his 75-year-old disabled mother and that a police officer answered the phone when he called his daughter’s apartment in Ashgabat. "Now there are three or four policemen sitting around my mother’s bed," he said. As this indicates, debate inside Turkmenistan is probably less strident. Memorial, the human rights organization in Moscow, issued a press release charging that Niyazov had not mustered any evidence to back his charges but predicting that "suspects’ relatives [may] be accused of fabricated charges." Within the country, state television reportedly did not cover the assassination attempt until Niyazov himself spoke about it. And economically, little about the country’s gas-dependent, essentially closed economy appears likely to change in the short term. "I suppose if Niyazov weren’t there, you might see some outbreak of small private enterprise," says Martha Blaxall, an economist who studies the region. "But that isn’t going to happen." /// Eurasia Net, 26 Nov Murder mastermind had Russian support: Niyazov Ashgabat, 26 Nov—Turkmenistan’s autocratic ruler Saparmurat Niyazov accused exiled opponents of trying to unseat him with support from Russia as his police arrested 16 people on Tuesday after an assassination attempt against the president. Niyazov, 62, who has ruled for the past 17 years with an iron fist over this largely desert but energy-rich Central Asian republic, survived unhurt after gunmen fired at his motorcade in the capital Ashkhabad on Monday. His spokesman Serdar Durdiyev said testimony given by the 16 people detained since the incident had established that the chief organiser of the murder bid was a former deputy agriculture minister, Sapar Yklymov. Behind him, stood former foreign minister Boris Shikhmuradov, former central banker Khudoiberdy Orazov and Nurmukhammed Khanamov, an ex-ambassador to Turkey, the spokesman added. “The aim of this act was to destabilise the situation in the republic. People tried to openly use terror against Turkmenistan, law and order and the constitutional norms,” he told reporters. Durdiyev pointed the finger at unnamed political figures in Russia, who he said sponsored the opposition politicians in their efforts to overthrow Niyazov. “This act was ordered and organised from abroad. I cannot say that this was from Russia, but there are certainly politicians in Russia who protected the organisers of this act,” he said. A Russian government official dismissed the accusations out of hand. “We don’t see the need to comment on a statement that does not contain a single fact or person’s name,” the official told the RIA-Novosti news agency, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official Neutralny Turkmenistan newspaper reported that the incident happened when the presidential motorcade was travelling along the city’s Turkmenbashi street, which is named after the president. A Kamaz lorry blocked the two rear vehicles of the column and guns were fired from its cabin and two other vehicles when the truck was approached by a traffic policeman, the newspaper reported. According to the paper, all three vehicles belonged to a firm owned by the former deputy agricultural minister Yklymov. “Preliminary investigation shows that the traces of the evil plot lead to some friendly countries,” the newspaper added. Niyazov has already appealed to Turkey and Russia to hand over Turkmen opposition leaders who are living in self-imposed exile abroad. The president, who likes to drive himself around Ashkhabad in an armoured black Mercedes, said a traffic policeman had been injured in the incident and taken to hospital.Turkmenistan’s prosecutor general had launched a criminal investigation into the case, officials said. Of the 16 people arrested so far, four were of Georgian origin, according to the presidential spokesman. There was no independent information available on the incident. Known as Turkmenbashi or Father of all Turkmen, Niyazov has ruled with an iron fist since independence in 1991 and declared himself president-for-life in 1999. Communist Party chief since 1985 when Turkmenistan was part of the Soviet Union, he has constructed a Stalinesque personality cult around himself in his nation of five million people. Niyazov has a giant golden statue of himself, which rotates towards the sun, atop a huge Arch of Neutrality in the capital’s main square. Huge posters of Niyazov adorn buildings across the largely desert state’s towns and cities. Rights watchdogs have accused the president of crushing the independent media, staging rigged elections and widespread human rights abuses in Turkmenistan, which shares a border with Iran and Afghanistan. But discontent is reported to be spreading through the political elite who are frequently subject to arbitrary cabinet reshuffles and humiliating rebukes, often broadcast live on television by the president. “I think that the extent to which Niyazov has alienated his own government is underestimated,” said Alexander Zaslavsky, director of consulting at the New York-based Eurasia political risk consultancy. Observers warn of repression after assassination bid Observers on Tuesday predicted a new round of crackdowns in Turkmenistan after its authoritarian president Saparmurat Niyazov survived an assassination attempt. “What we can assume is that there will be a new round of domestic repression,” said Alexander Zaslavsky, director of consulting with the New York-based Eurasia political risk consultancy. But while a presidential spokesman said Tuesday that Turkmen police had already arrested 16 people suspected of involvement in the attack, he was quick to add that there would be no large-scale repression. “There will be no mass repression or arrests,” Serdar Durdiyev told reporters. However, the Neutralny Turkmenistan daily reported Tuesday that a manhunt had been launched to find those involved in the assassination attempt. The paper also directly linked one of Niyazov’s opponents to the attack, saying that that three vehicles used by the attackers belonged to a firm owned by former deputy agriculture minister Sapar Yklymov. Niyazov’s spokesman Serdar Durdiyev said that testimony given by those people detained since the incident had established that Yklymov was the chief organiser. In a hint of a crackdown in Turkmenistan against relatives of the exiled politicia, he warned darkly that “his entire family is caught up in this.” Niyazov, a Soviet-style autocratic leader, said late Monday that gunmen had opened fire on his cortege early that day, killing a policeman, but that he had survived the apparent assassination bid, viewed as the most serious challenge yet to his 17-year-long rule. He accused political opponents of being behind the attack, including former foreign minister Boris Shikhmuradov, former central banker Khudoiberdy Orazov, Nurmukhammed Khanamov, an ex-ambassador to Turkey, and Yklymov. Known as Turkmenbashi or Father of all Turkmen, Niyazov has ruled this gas-rich country of five million people bordering on Iran and Afghanistan with an iron hand since he became Communist Party chief in 1985. Niyazov, who is the subject of an elaborate personality cult, has now amassed absolute power in Turkmenistan, where he was declared president-for-life in 1999. /// AFP Russia blamed for bid on Turkmen leader ASHGABAT, 26 Nov—Russian politicians were behind Monday's apparent assassination attempt against Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov, a top Turkmen official said Tuesday. "I cannot say that this (was organized) in Russia, but I can officially say that in Russia there are political figures patronizing the organizers of the (assassination) attempt," Serdar Durdyev, the head of the Department for International Information at the Turkmen president's office, said. Durdyev said the attack on Niyazov was ordered and organized outside Turkmenistan. On Monday, attackers opened fire at Niyazov's motorcade as it traveled to the presidential palace in Ashgabat. The president, who later said he had not realized he was being fired upon, was unharmed. No one was hurt. "One of very high officials in the Russian government" helped Khudayberdy Orazov, a Niyazov opponent, to leave Turkmenistan illegally a year ago, Durdyev said. He said Turkmen authorities had recorded a telephone conversation between a Russian official and Orazov, in which the former Turkmen deputy prime minister asked the Russian for his help in leaving the country. Relations between the two nations have been strained over Moscow's perception that Niyazov is blocking the division of the Caspian Sea's vast mineral wealth. Earlier this year, there were rumors Russia was supporting a coup against Niyazov. Durdyev said Orazov, former Foreign Minister Boris Shikhmuradov and Nurmukhammed Hanamov, the former Turkmen ambassador to Turkey and Israel, were the financial and ideological backers of the assassination bid. On Monday, Niyazov also blamed former Agriculture Deputy Minister Saparmurad Yklymov for the shooting. Yklymov, who lives in Sweden, denied any role and said Turkmen authorities had detained his relatives. Durdyev said 16 people had been arrested in connection with Monday's attack, including four Georgians. Turkmen officials called the incident "an act of international terrorism." Critics said, however, Niyazov staged the attack. In its 2001 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, the U.S. State Department called Turkmenistan "a one-party state dominated by its president and his closest advisers, who continue to exercise power in a Soviet-era authoritarian style." Earlier this year, the People's Council of Turkmenistan declared Niyazov president for life. The president, who is known as Turkmenbashi (head of all Turkmens), was the head of the Turkmen Communist Party in 1985 and has been president since his country became independent in 1991. The Democratic Party, the successor of the Communist Party, is the country's sole political group. /// UPI Turkmenistan: Government Must Seek Justice Not Revenge Amnesty International believes that any action the government of Turkmenistan takes to bring to justice those involved in yesterday's assassination attempt on President Saparmurad Niyazov must strictly abide by international human rights law. "Precisely at times of heightened tensions governments must ensure that all measures taken are in accordance with international human rights law. We are particularly concerned that the government's response to the assassination attempt may lead to a new wave of clampdown on dissent in Turkmenistan", Amnesty International said. Amnesty International received worrying reports that many people have been detained following yesterday's events. According to official figures issued today, 16 people were detained. Unofficial sources reportedly claimed that more than one hundred people have been detained. "We urge the Turkmen authorities to ensure that those detained have access to legal counsel promptly and throughout the investigation and that they are not subjected to torture or ill-treatment, as enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that Turkmenistan is a party to. The detainees should be either charged with a recognizable offence or released," the organization said. The organization is concerned that many of those detained may have been targeted because of their family relations with exiled opposition figures, who were named as suspects by the President. At least 18 relatives of Saparmurad Yklymov, the former Deputy Minister of Agriculture, who Saparmurad Niyazov yesterday labelled as "the immediate organizer of the terrorist act", have reportedly been detained and the whereabouts of at least one more person is currently unknown. The President publicly implicated exiled opposition figures Saparmurad Yklymov, the former Foreign Minister Boris Shikhmuradov, former head of Turkmenistan's central bank Khudayberdy Orazov, and Nurmukhamed Khanamov, ex-ambassador to Turkey in the assassination attempt. Background The Central Asian state of Turkmenistan became independent following the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991. Since then it has been dominated by President Saparmurad Niyazov, who has exercised a monopoly on power as both head of state and head of government. The government is intolerant of dissent, restricting political and civil liberties and retaining tight control of the media. Protest against the regime has grown more vocal throughout recent years. Several senior officials defected this and last year, including Boris Shikhmuradov, Khudayberdy Orazov and Nurmukhamed Khanomov. Numerous senior officials were demoted, dismissed or imprisoned in Turkmenistan this year in what appeared to be a politically motivated purge. In many cases, civil society activists, supporters and alleged supporters of the opposition, and their relatives faced harassment and threats by the security service. Numerous members and supporters of opposition groups are reportedly barred from leaving or entering the country. Clandestine mass dissemination of anti-government leaflets was reported from Ashgabat and the Northern city of Dashoguz in August and October respectively. /// Press Release by Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street, WC1X 8DJ, London, United Kingdom, 26 Nov Turkmenistan: Opposition Figures Deny Role In Assassination Attempt Prague, 26 Nov- Three of the people named by Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov as the organizers of an attempt on his life contacted RFE/RL's Turkmen Service today to deny the charge. Niyazov's motorcade came under fire yesterday morning in downtown Ashgabat as the Turkmen president traveled to work. Niyazov was not hurt, though one policeman and several bystanders were injured during the exchange of fire. Niyazov said shortly afterward that former Deputy Agriculture Minister Sapar Iklymov planned the attack. Niyazov said Iklymov was helped by former Foreign Minister Boris Shikhmuradov, former National Bank chief Khudaiberdy Orazov, and former Ambassador to Turkey Nurmukhammed Khanamov. All four currently live outside Turkmenistan. Orazov, Khanamov, and Iklymov denied having any part in the attack. Orazov questioned whether it really was an assassination attempt, noting that it was common knowledge that Niyazov's vehicles are double-armor plated. He said any attempt to kill Niyazov by using machine guns, as the attackers did, would therefore be futile. Orazov also questioned why the attackers let Niyazov's car pass by before they started their attack. Turkmen authorities claimed today to have detained 16 people, four of them ethnic Georgians, in connection with the assassination attempt. The Russian human rights organization Memorial said the accurate figure was closer to 100. Iklymov said many of those arrested are his relatives. Earler today, Niyazov's spokesman said Russia played a role in the failed assassination attempt on Niyazov yesterday. Serdar Durdiev said the orders to kill Niyazov came from abroad. Durdiev said he could not say for certain the order came from Russia, but the Reuters news agency quotes him as saying he is certain "political activists in Russia" are protecting "organizers and motivators." /// RFE/RL Turkmenistan to cancel securities from Jan 1 2003 ASHGABAD. 26 Nov—Turkmenistan will cancel government securities in circulation from January 1 2003, President of Turkmenistan Saparmurad Niyazov said at a government session Monday. Economy and Finance Minister Dortkuli Aydogdyev was instructed to prepare the draft for the pertinent decree, which is to be signed on December 25 (since 1996 Turkmenistan has issued promissory notes and bonds). The president said the practice of issuing promissory notes and bonds did not justify itself "because since 1996 they have not become full- fledged monetary instruments, triggering regular delays in public sector salaries and a rise in mutual non-payments of government companies and organizations." It is not yet clear whether payments will be made after January 1 on securities that have already been issued. Niyazov did not propose any alternatives to the securities. /// Interfax Turkmen president speaks about shooting incident – More Details Ashgabat, 25 Nov—Turkmenistan's president, Saparmyrat Nyyazow, described the shooting incident in the Turkmen capital, Asgabat, on 25 November as an act of conspiracy designed by certain foreign law-enforcement agencies. Speaking at an expanded session of the government held on the same day, Nyyazow also blamed the Turkmen opposition in exile, headed by ex-foreign minister Boris Syhmyradow, for being responsible. "They just want to disturb the situation in Turkmenistan, which would make it possible for them to get back here," Nyyazow noted. The following are excerpts from Nyyazow's remarks, broadcast on the same day by Turkmen TV Altyn Asyr channel. Subheadings have been inserted editorially. [Presenter] Turkmenistan's president, Saparmyrat Turkmenbasy [Nyyazow] the Great, today received a group of architects and designers headed by Aldo Carbonaro of France's Bouygues Batiment [construction] firm. [Passage omitted: correspondent's voice over video of Nyyazow standing in front of a map and talking to the designers] Then Turkmenistan's president, Saparmyrat Turkmenbasy [Nyyazow] the Great, held an expanded meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers. Its agenda included various important issues presented for consideration. [Passage omitted: Nyyazow shown sitting at a desk and making remarks and officials taking notes; remarks on Asgabat's future appearance and on making its environment healthier; some 3.7m trees to be planted this winter; Nyyazow then speaks about a specific issue] Nyyazow himself was not aware of what happened [Nyyazow in Turkmen] Let me brief you about one more issue in order to prevent any kind of gossip. Law-enforcement officers are carrying out investigations. There is no room for gossip; some foreign agencies reported it as early as 0930 [Asgabat time; 0430 gmt ITAR-TASS reported the incident at 1410 gmt]. You would have heard about this sooner or later, but, to be honest, this is not a matter of great concern to me. It happened at 0700 [0200 gmt], when I passed this point, right over there in that district, a Kamaz [truck] three or four [word indistinct] blocked the crossroads. The GAI [traffic police] who were following me ended up behind the Kamaz. I ended up on the other side. I was not aware of anything and came to work. Then at work I was informed that there was shooting going on there. They told me that people had come out of a Kamaz, a Gazel [Russian-made van] and a BMW and started shooting from both sides. A young lad from the Defence Ministry's GAI who tried to stop the Kamaz was knocked down by it. Even bleeding, he tried to stop it [the truck] by clinging to the side and was dragged along for some time. He showed true courage and is currently being treated in hospital, where he is undergoing surgery. All cars belonged to former agriculture chief's family All of the vehicles, the Kamaz, Gazel and BMW, belong to the Yklymows, who have a firm there named Ojak or something like this. Most of these people have already been picked up and are now giving evidence. It was Yklymow who ordered them to provide the Kamaz for four young men, all of whom were armed. Those who were shooting stayed on the right-hand side of the street, where there is a stadium, and some of their bullets hit the BMW and their own people too. It happened right by the stadium, so they probably dispersed in it. Their cars have state registration plates. The Yklymows have been detained, and, Yklymow reportedly admitted that he himself lent his Kamaz truck and another vehicle to the four men. Opposition blamed for being behind incident These men - [changes tack]. Behind all this are [Nurmuhammet] Hanamow [former Turkmen ambassador to Turkey], [Hudayberdi] Orazow [former head of the Turkmen Central Bank], Boris Syhmyradow [former Turkmen foreign minister] and [Ymamberdi] Yklymow [former agriculture minister]. [Passage omitted: allegations of crimes the four men are said to have committed] Everything about them has become known, so they are now acting in fear of it all. All the evidence points to them - to Yklymow and others. On the other hand, there was my own generosity, otherwise Yklymow ought to have been jailed in 1986. Taygeldi [untraced] was a minister then and I told him that all these people should be jailed immediately because in 1991, when there was no more USSR, a group of men calling themselves democrats, went out into the streets and made a fuss. On the other hand, some high-level officials committed acts of embezzlement right at that time in the cotton, oil and gas sectors. However, I decided not to spoil our country by jailing all of them. Let them go free so that they could correct themselves. Unfortunately, today we are gathering the fruits of this. As a result, some dirty men fled at the time when investigations were under way into their deeds. The Prosecutor [General]'s Office, the KGB [National Security Ministry] are now looking into their files. All of their misdeeds have become known, so [criminal] cases have been instituted against them. Opposition seeks to disturb situation in country They just want to disturb the situation in Turkmenistan, which would make it possible for them to get back here. Let us remember that nobody, not me nor anyone else, will live longer than God permits. On the other hand, I am not bothered unduly that there are such attempts. We will bring them to justice sooner or later, so there is no escape for them. Those detained will get their deserved punishment. But they are just mercenaries, high on drugs and ordered to shoot. They will be punished, though they are not the key figures. There are others who are behind them, who hired them and organized such acts. There will be no escape for them either. Of course, they will try one way or another [to escape], but we will get them in the end, since there is no way out for them. I have already made several appeals to the leadership of Russia and Turkey to help get them back. There, on the fringes of Russia, in some places, they are concocting dirty deeds and making money from drugs. So there is no way out for them and they cannot achieve anything. [Break in reception due to technical problems] Certain agencies have interests in Turkmenistan How did it happen that foreign agencies already reported on this [the incident] at 0930, although nobody in Turkmenistan was aware of it? One can see some conspiracy here because certain law-enforcement agencies have special interests here. History knows many such examples. God protects everybody because every individual is given his own life term. So far, the National Security Ministry, the Internal Affairs Ministry and the Prosecutor-General's office are all carrying out their investigations. Everything will be investigated in compliance with the law, and the punishment will also be in accordance with the law. So there is no room for gossip. However, let us remain vigilant and not allow our country to be fooled. It was Yklymow himself who ordered: "Give these four men the Kamaz truck tomorrow." And it has also become known that the private registration plate of the BMW car was replaced by a state one. We also know the registration plates of the two Gazel cars [of Yklymow's]. There is no secret about this in Turkmenistan. These men, probably high on opium or heroin, ran out just beside a block of flats. Please don't believe any gossip - that's why I am telling you all this. Let us live without fear and hesitation. We will not allow any person to commit an act of dishonesty. At the same time, nobody in Turkmenistan complains of being deprived of his freedom. Not a single person in Turkmenistan has been charged just for having a different opinion. This time, we are pardoning some 8,000 criminals because we are confident. However, there is a need now to be a bit more vigilant and not pardon those detained just recently. That is why I pardoned 8,000 and no more. Eight thousand is quite enough so far, though we could free all of them without worrying about them inflicting any harm on the country. [Passage omitted to end: repeat about the recent pardoning decree; market economy should not add to people's hardships; state interference in the economy is practised in developed countries] /// Turkmen TV
Tracer continues pursuit of Adzhiyap Concession in Turkmenistan CALGARY, Alberta, 26 Nov—The following was released on behalf of the Board of Tracer Petroleum Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: TCXXF), by Larry Youell, President and CEO: In Turkmenistan, the Company's pursuit of the Adzhiyap Concession remains ongoing with both Tracer and Canneft in continued discussion with the Government of Turkmenistan and it prospective partners. The Company will be attending further meetings as well as the Turkmenistan Oil and Gas Conference in mid-December. The Company is pleased with the ongoing relations between itself, Canneft and the prospective Joint venture partners, and believes that there continues to be a concerted effort towards completing a Production Sharing Contract. /// Press Release by TRACER PETROLEUM CORPORATION Trans-Afghan Pipeline Summit Rescheduled for 26 December Ashgabat, 27 Nov—Turkmen Radio report: [Presenter] A telephone conversation took place today between Turkmenistan's president, Saparmyrat Turkmenbasy [Nyyazow] the Great and the head of Afghanistan's transitional government, Hamed Karzai. The Afghan leader, who earlier [on 26 November] sent a message of sympathy to the Turkmen leader in connection with the terrorist act in [the Turkmen capital, attempt on Nayyzow's life], today made a telephone call to express his satisfaction with the happy outcome of the incident. [Correspondent] Having severely condemned this criminal act aimed at the destabilization of the situation in Turkmenistan and disturbance of the peaceful and tranquil life of the nation, Hamed Karzai conveyed his confidence that the Turkmen people, under the leadership of Saparmyrat Turkmenbasy the Great, will pass successfully through this trial of destiny and continue heading along the trail of the Golden Age in unity and accord. Saparmyrat Turkmenbasy the Great warmly thanked Hamed Karzai for his good wishes and invited him to visit Asgabat on 26-27 December [2002] to sign a trilateral [Turkmen-Afghan-Pakistan] agreement on the construction of the Trans-Afghan gas pipeline. Then the leaders of the three states will visit Afghanistan to inaugurate the start of construction of a power transmission line in Herat Province of Afghanistan. The Turkmen president also told Hamed Karzai that a number of Afghan citizens had been released from Turkmenistan's prisons under a pardoning decree traditionally issued in Turkmenistan in the Holy Night of Ramadan. The Afghan leader warmly welcomed this news and thanked Saparmyrat Turkmenbasy for his humane act and mercifulness and also for inviting him to visit the Turkmen capital. The invitation was accepted with deep gratitude. At the end of the conversation the two state leaders conveyed to each other wishes of sound health and the successful accomplishment of all tasks and prosperity to the peoples of two neighbouring countries. /// Turkmen Radio AFP reports: An ambitious project to build a gas pipeline linking Turkmenistan to Pakistan through Afghanistan is expected to be launched next month at a summit here, Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov said Wednesday. Niyazov invited his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai by telephone Wednesday to attend a three-way summit in Ashkhabad on December 26-27, the television network reported. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf also is expected to attend, it said. The three presidents had been due to sign the agreement in October, but the summit was delayed at the request of Musharraf. The project to build the 1,500-kilometre, two-billion-dollar gas link from Turkmenistan fields across Afghanistan to Pakistan has been on the table for 20 years and has a long and chequered history. US energy company Unocal led efforts to build the line, but its plans were scuppered in 1998 when US cruise missiles struck Al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. However, since the fall of the Taliban, the plan has been pushed back onto the energy agenda by regional leaders./// AFP AP reports: A summit during which the leaders of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkmenistan are expected to sign a framework agreement on a gas pipeline has been tentatively scheduled for later this month. Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov invited Afghan President Hamid Karzai to the Turkmen capital Ashgabat on Dec. 26-27 for the signing, Niyazov's office said Wednesday. Karzai accepted the invitation, according to Turkmen officials. It was not immediately clear if Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf would also attend, although Niyazov's office referred to a trilateral meeting. The signing ceremony had originally been scheduled for last month but was postponed indefinitely because Pakistani officials were busy forming a Cabinet and because of questions raised by the Asian Development Bank about financial aspects of the plan. The nations want to build a 1,460-kilometer (907-mile) gas pipeline from the vast Dauletabad-Donmez fields of Turkmenistan, across landlocked Afghanistan to a terminus in Pakistan. At an estimated cost of US billion, the pipeline would open an outlet at Pakistan's Arabian Sea port of Karachi to Asian markets for the former Soviet republic of Turkmenistan, which has the world's fourth largest gas reserves. /// AP Turkmen protest meeting demands death sentence for conspirators Ashgabat, 27 Nov—A protest rally took place today in the Turkmen capital, Asgabat, with its participants all voicing their firm support for the country's president, Saparmyrat Nyyazow, who escaped an assassination attempt on 25 November. The speakers at the meeting, broadcast on the same day by the state-run Altyn Asyr TV, said that the conspirators behind the attack should be brought to justice. They blamed Boris Syhmyradow, Hudayberdi Orazow, Nurmuhammet Hanamow and Saparmyrat [Ymamberdi] Yklymow, all members of the Turkmen opposition in exile, as the organizers of the abortive attack. In this, they were following the lead set by Nyyazow himself shortly after the attack. One of the speakers, Myrat Garryyew, the head of the Central Committee on Elections and Referendums in Turkmenistan, wondered how it was that the Russian media were so quick to report the incident. "I think that this act had been planned well in advance, and the people there [in Russia] were aware of it too," he said. Another speaker, Turkmenistan's chief mufti, Nasrullah Ibn Ibadullah, said: "The organizers of this act, people like Boris Syhmyradow, Orazow, Yklymow and Hanamow will not be favoured by Almighty God, even if they repent." All speakers at the meeting demanded severe punishment for the perpetrators and inspirers of the act. "These persons should be brought back [to Turkmenistan] by any means, even by appealing to the United Nations, because all of them are criminals," said Myratberdi Sopyyew, a farmer whom President Nyyazow had promoted to the rank of Hero of Turkmenistan early this year. Families of Yklymov and Jumayev are greatly involved in this crime. Those family members of their families, who were involved in this crime, have been taken in custody. So far 20 persons suspected to be involved in this crime have been taken under arrest for investigation. Some foreigners including Georgians, Armenians and Russians are among those who had been hired to commit this act of terrorism. /// Turkmen TV Turkmenistan.ru reports: A rally in protest at the actions of the organizers and executers of the terrorist act carried out on 25 November, and in support for the policies of Turkmen President Saparmyrat Nyyazow was held today in the Turkmen capital. The rally was organized by the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan and the National Revival Movement of Turkmenistan [both chaired by President Nyyazow] and gathered the residents of the capital representing all strata of society ranging from students to respectable elders, representatives of various professions, and well-known public and political figures of Turkmenistan, an Asgabat correspondent of Turkmenistan.RU reported. The speakers at the rally resolutely condemned the criminal action that was carried out in the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, and also supported the policy of President Saparmyrat Nyyazow directed at strengthening stability and state development. /// Turkmenistan.ru ITAR-TASS reports: A meeting in [the Turkmen capital] Asgabat on Wednesday [27 November] demanded the death penalty for the attackers of Turkmen President Saparmyrat Nyyazow. His motorcade came under a fire attack from a truck and two cars on Monday [25 November]. The 1,500-strong meeting of representatives of 70 public groups unanimously voted for asking the parliament of the Central Asian republic to pass a special resolution saying that "all masterminds and perpetrators of the attempt on the life of the president must be declared traitors of the Motherland, and the death penalty must be applied to them on an exception basis". Capital punishment was banned in Turkmenistan in 1999. The meeting's participants also called for an address to governments of countries where four former high-ranking government officials branded by Nyyazow as organizers of the assassination attempt are staying. "They must be turned over to Turkmenistan, where they will be put on trial and punished," one of speakers said. /// ITAR-TASS Interfax reports: A rally in support of Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov was held in Ashgabat on Wednesday. The public movement Revival and the Democratic Party chaired by Niyazov organized the rally, which was attended by about 1,500 people. Regarding the recent attack on Niyazov, Democratic Party Secretary Ondzhik Musayev denounced the "scoundrels that took the path of shaitan." Niyazov's motorcade was attacked on Monday on the way from his country residence to downtown Ashgabat. Although several people, including a traffic police officer, were wounded in the attack, Niyazov was not hurt. Turkmen media outlets published letters in support of Niyazov. "This brutal and barbaric event saddens all believers in Turkmenistan," the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper wrote. The Religious Affairs Council affiliated with the president reaffirmed the general support for the president and urged Niyazov "not to lose optimism." "This incident will unite the people around you," the council said in a statement. "The public has denounced those who took part in this plot," Revival said in a statement addressed to the president. /// Interfax AP reports: About 1,700 people staged a rally in the Turkmen capital on Wednesday, calling for the death penalty to be reinstated for anyone convicted in the assassination attempt against leader Saparmurat Niyazov. The rally participants, organized by a political party associated with Niyazov, asked lawmakers to temporarily restore the death penalty. Turkmenistan has banned capital punishment since 1999. The demonstrators said the "organizers and executors of the terrorist act must be accused of being traitors to their homeland and the death penalty must be applied to them as an exception." Niyazov was driving to work on Monday when a truck cut in front of his car and blocked the path of three accompanying cars. Gunmen opened fire on the convoy from two minibuses and a car, while other gunmen emerged from nearby buildings and fired, according to the presidential spokesman. The president was unharmed, but several people were injured including a military police officer who tried to stop the truck but was run over, the spokesman said. Sixteen suspects were detained. Four Georgians were among the detainees, but Archil Chkhartishvili, spokesman for the Georgian Intelligence Office, said none of the four were involved. He said they were detained because they didn't have valid Turkmen visas. Officials in Niyazov's office said that some of the suspects identified the alleged organizers. Those named include former First Deputy Agriculture Minister Saparmurat Yklymov, former Foreign Minister Boris Shikhmuradov, former Central Bank chief Khudaiberdi Orazov and former ambassador to Turkey Nurmukhammed Khanamov. The four already face charges at home — Shikhmuradov, Orazov, and Khanamov for allegedly stealing state property — and have taken refuge abroad, including in Russia. Niyazov has ruled Turkmenistan since 1985, when it was still part of the Soviet Union. An authoritarian leader at the center of a cult of personality, he has resisted moves toward democracy and economic reforms and cracked down on dissent. /// AP Itera to remain main operator in Turkmen gas deals Ashgabat, 27 Nov—Text of a report by the international news department of the office of the Turkmen president in a Turkmen Foreign Ministry press release on 27 November On instructions from Turkmenistan's president, Saparmyrat Turkmenbasy [Nyyazow], talks were held on 27 November in [the Turkmen capital] Asgabat between the Turkmen government and the head of the Itera group of companies, Igor Makarov. The sides praised the current state of mutually beneficial cooperation in the oil and gas field and in other areas of economy, as well as the prospects for it. In this context, some other issues were also discussed during the meeting, concerning Itera's commitments under the contract on transportation and sale of 10bn cubic metres of Turkmen gas next year. Igor Makarov reaffirmed Itera's readiness, as agreed with the Turkmen president, to continue its task as the operator, arranging the transportation and sale of Turkmen gas in foreign markets. The sides also agreed on some preparatory steps to be made, together with Russia's Rosneft [Russian Oil] and Zarubezhneft [Foreign Oil] companies, on projects for developing offshore oil and gas fields on the Turkmen shelf of the Caspian Sea. /// Press Release by International Press Department at President Niyazov’s Office Turkmenistan.ru reports: Today the members of the Turkmen government and head of ITREA Company, Igor Makarov had talks in Ashkhabad, correspondent of Turkmenistan was informed from the presidential press office. During the talks the sides highly estimated the state and perspectives of mutually beneficial cooperation in oil and gas sphere and other spheres of economy. In this context, during the meeting the sides discussed issues covering implementation by ITERA of the contract on transportation and selling of a 10 billion cubic meters of gas next year. Igor Makarov confirmed readiness of ITERA to continue in 2003 being an operator of the project on transportation and implementation of Turkmen natural gas to the foreign markets. Moreover, the sides agreed on certain steps aimed at preparation for implementation of projects on exploration of oil and gas fields on the Turkmen shelf of the Caspian Sea together with the Russian Rosneft and Zarubejneft companies. /// Turkmenistan.ru Kawasaki Heavy, Mitsubishi to build cement plant in Turkmenistan TOKYO, 27 Nov—KAWASAKI HEAVY INDUSTRIES LTD. (TSE:7012) and MITSUBISHI CORP. (TSE:8058) have received an order, believed to be worth 3 billion yen (US.66 million), from a Turkish company to build a cement plant in Turkmenistan. The plant, to be completed in April 2005, will be located about 75km to the west of Ashkhabad, the capital of Turkmenistan. * The factory, with a daily production capacity of 3,000 tons of cement, will supply about 40-50 per cent of domestic demand. * Turkmenistan uses around 2 million tons of cement a year. /// Asia In Focus, JAPAN Georgian and Afghan leaders expresses support for Turkmen president Ashgabat, 27 Nov—To His Excellency, the president of Turkmenistan, Mr Saparmyrat Atayewic Nyyazow. Esteemed Mr Saparmyrat Atayewic, I received the news on the attempt on your life with outrage. I consider this terrorist act as an attempt directed against the statehood of fraternal Turkmenistan. I was happy to hear the news about your safety. The Georgian government and nation, resolutely condemning terrorism and its supporters, express their support for you and wish you sound health and success. Sincerely, Eduard Shevardnadze, President of Georgia. /// Turkmen TV Hamid Karzai’s letter to President Niyazov: To His Excellency, the president of Turkmenistan, Mr Saparmyrat [Nyyazow] Turkmenbasy. With great regret, I express my sorrow over the attempt on Your Excellency's life. I thank God that the life of Your Excellency, the president of Turkmenistan, was not harmed. I condemn this terrorist act on behalf of the interim government of the Islamic State of Afghanistan, the Afghan nation and myself. Taking advantage of this opportunity, I wish Your Excellency sound health and long life, and happiness and prosperity to the Turkmen nation. Sincerely, Hamed Karzai, Chairman of the interim government of the Islamic State of Afghanistan. /// Turkmen TV TURKMEN PRESIDENT RECEIVES MANY SUPPORT TELEGRAMS Moscow, 27 Nov—I condemn this attack addressed to shaking stability in Turkmenistan. Turkey, as a state who faced terrorism, attached big role to bilateral and international cooperation in fight with this evil,”the Turkish president Ahmet Sezer writes addressing to the Turkmen President. In his telegram the head of the Afghani government Hamid Karzay harshly criticized and condemned this act of terrorism. “Ukraine, which always condemns any forms of terrorism, was shocked and bewildered by this news,” the Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma stated, expressing hope that “executors of this act will be brought to court and punished. ”Georgian president Edward Shewardnadze qualified this act of terrorism as a threat to the statehood of friendly Turkmenistan. The Turkmen president also talked with president of Tajikistan, Emomali Rakhmonov and ex-president of Turkey Suleyman Demirel, who named the incident as act of terrorism, harshly condemning it, Ashkhabad’s correspondent of Turkmenistan.ru reports citing the presidential press office. /// Turkmenistan.ru Turkmenistan: President Might Overreact Following Attack An unknown assailant peppered the motorcade of Turkmen President Saparmurad Niyazov with submachine-gun fire on Nov. 25, Interfax reported. Although the president was unharmed, the attack was the first public assassination attempt against him. His reaction likely will burn the few bridges Ashgabat has to the outside world. Niyazov is best known as the "Turkmenbashi," an adopted title that means "Father of all Turkmen." Niyazov has renamed most significant locales in the country -- ports, parks, streets, etc. -- after himself, and his self-celebratory nature has led to a veritable army of commemorative golden statutes and a line of personalized commercial goods, complete with his own brand of vodka. Meanwhile, little of the country's meager income goes toward help its citizens, and Turkmenistan's foreign relations have been equally bizarre under Niyazov's rule. While there is no evidence that any specific group was behind the recent attack, the deliriously erratic mind of the "Bashi" makes it likely that he will act against the variety of threats he believes are assailing him. Niyazov feels he must prove he is both personally secure and professionally in control. The result most likely will be a wide-ranging series of security sweeps in which every power group with any presence in the country, including domestic and foreign business and political interests, faces an inquisition. This will not improve Niyazov's relations with anyone. He already has alienated Moscow with his intransigence over natural gas supplies, and Washington for his lack of cooperation in the war on terrorism. Niyazov's unpredictability also has scared most foreign investors away, and the few that remain are active only in Turkmenistan's sector of the oil-rich Caspian Sea. And even those companies are likely to rethink their involvement should the president's cleansing efforts prove more than window dressing. /// Stratfor, 25 Nov Georgia did not participate in assassination attempt on Turkmenbashi, spokesman of Georgian State Minister says Tbilisi, 28 Nov—It is confirmed that Georgians, arrested on November 25 in Ashgabad, did not participate in assassination attempt against Turkmenistan President Saparmurad Niyazov - spokesman of the Georgian State Security Ministry Nika Laliashvili told Civil Georgia. As Laliashvili says, the Georgian side was informed by Turkmenistan law enforcers that no Georgian citizens are among the suspects. Laiashvili also said that the information was confirmed by the Ambassador of Georgia in Turkmenistan Petre Chkheidze as well. Several were injured when assassins opened fire at Niyazov's escort on this Monday. The President was not hurt. However, the next day head of the President's press service Serdar Duriev reported that among 16 arrested suspects, four were Georgians. /// CNA Turkmen TV continues to report rallies condemning attack on president Ashgabat, 28 Nov—The attack on President Saparmyrat Nyyazow's motorcade by unidentified persons in the Turkmen capital, Asgabat, on 25 November continues to be in the centre of public attention across the country, state-run Turkmen TV reported in its flagship evening newscast broadcast at 1600 gmt on 28 November. The Altyn asyr channel said that mass meetings and rallies were being held throughout Turkmenistan, all in support of President Nyyazow. In one of a series of vox-pop interviews with uncaptioned residents and visitors of Asgabat, a woman standing in front of Asgabat State University said: "Those attackers who tried to assassinate our great leader, Saparmyrat Turkmenbasy Nyyazow, are the enemies not only of our leader. They are the enemies of our eternal statehood, and of our proud nation. To our deep sorrow, persons like [former Foreign Minister Boris] Syhmyradow, [former Central Bank Chairman Hudayberdi] Orazow, [former Turkmen Ambassador to Turkey, Nurmuhammet] Hanamow and [former Agricultural Minister Ymamberdi] Yklymow, [all now members of the Turkmen opposition in exile] who lived in this country, who breathed its air and ate its bread, and then betrayed it, still exist and have shown their true faces." The presenter said that most people demanded severe punishment for the perpetrators of the attack. The television also showed scenes from a meeting held in Boldumsaz District, northern Turkmenistan, condemning the attack. This area is known as the homeland of Orazow who last year fled the country and joined the opposition in exile. /// Turkmen TV Interfax: Bouygues to complete over mln worth of construction in Ashgabad in Dec Ashgabat, 26 Nov—Bouygues of France will complete construction of new parliament and central bank buildings and a school costing over million by December 12 (Turkmenistan's Neutrality Day). President of Turkmenistan Saparmurad Niyazov made the announcement Monday during a meeting with Aldo Carbonaro, vice president of Bouygues, the main contractor for architectural projects in the Turkmen capital, which have totaled almost $1.5 billion in the past seven years. Bouygues will in December start constructing National Museum and Vnesheconombank buildings, an exhibition gallery and shopping mall. The contracts for these facilities were signed in July 2002. The museum building will cost million and should be completed by December 2004. Bouygues plans to build the gallery and shopping mall, each to cost million, by May 2005. /// Interfax Khatami, Niyazov discuss bilateral, regional issues Tehran, 30 Nov—President Mohammad Khatami discussed the latest developments in Tehran and Ashkhabad as well as regional issues in a telephone conversation with his Turkmen counterpart Saparmurat Niyazov Friday night, IRNA reported. President Khatami described the outcomes of the April summit of heads of five littoral states of the Caspian Sea -- namely Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan -- as well as bilateral cooperation in the fields of transportation and energy as "positive". He called for further expansion of bilateral and regional cooperation between the two neighboring countries. Niyazov, for his part, pointed to the two countries' similar stances on the issues related to the Caspian Sea and promotion of economic relations and stressed the need to bolster mutual and regional ties. The two-day summit of the Caspian Sea littoral states was held in the Turkmen capital of Ashkhabad last April to discuss how to share the inland sea and it wound up with no resolution. The presidents of the five Caspian states, however, described the summit as successful. President Khatami described the summit on the Caspian Sea "an important event" as he called on the littoral countries to shut the region to outsiders. "One of the important issues raised up in the summit was that the Caspian Sea belongs to the five coastal countries and that nobody should interfere in the region," Khatami said. Iran has repeatedly made it known that it considers any unilateral deals for energy exploration in the Caspian Sea as null and void before the issue of legal regime of the Caspian Sea is settled. /// IRNA ITAR-TASS reports: Ashgabat, 29 Nov— [Turkmen President] Saparmyrat Nyyazow and [Iranian President] Mohammad Khatami have called for speeding up the settlement of the Caspian Sea's legal status. The presidents exchanged their views on this topic during a telephone conversation today. Turkmen State News Service reported: "The presidents agreed to visit each other's countries and the first visit will take place in early 2003. The dates and details of the visits will be specified during Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi's visit to Turkmenistan in the near future." The presidents also discussed the current state of and the prospects for developing bilateral relations, specifically in the power engineering and transport sectors. Iran is buying Turkmen gas supplied via the specially built 200-m. Turkmen-Iranian gas pipeline Korpeje [Korpedzhe] - Kurtkoy. The Balkanabat-Aliabad power transmitting line, which will be used to provide northern Iranian provinces with electricity and also to re-export it to Turkey, is nearly ready. The Tejen-Serakhs railway link, put into operation in 1996 and actively used by CIS goods consignors as an interim corridor to the ports of South-East Asia, is also of great importance in the two countries' economic partnership. Discussing the urgent issues of regional cooperation, as stressed in the official information, Khatami backed Nyyazow's initiative to set up a regional consultative council at president level. /// ITAR-TASS Another report by IRNA: Tehran, 1 Dec—Iranian President Mohammad Khatami in a phone conversation with his Turkmen counterpart r Saparmyrat Nyyazow late on Friday [29 November] condemned a recent assassination attempt on his life, a Persian daily Afarinesh reported here on Sunday. Expressing pleasure over the failure of the attempt, Khatami stressed that the Islamic Republic strongly denounces any kind of terrorism. He also referred to terrorism as an inhumane approach being utilized against humanity. President Khatami hoped success for his counterpart and prosperity for the Turkmen people, adding that the elements behind the failed attempt should be identified and punished. Masked gunmen opened fire on Nyyazow's motorcade in Asgabat on Monday, but the Turkmen president was not riding in his car. During the conversation, the two sides explored prospect of mutual relations and underscored the necessity for expansion of bilateral relations especially in energy and transportation sectors. Khatami also voiced interest in Nyyazow's proposal for establishment of a regional consultative council at presidential level in Central Asia. The both sides also conferred on regional and international developments, as well as Caspian Sea affairs, and felicitated each other on the forthcoming Id al-Fitr. The sighting of the new moon at the end of Ramadan heralds the celebration of Id al-Fitr (breaking the fast). Meanwhile, Khatami described the outcomes of the April summit of heads of five littoral states of the Caspian Sea - namely Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan - as well as bilateral cooperation in the fields of transportation and energy as "positive". Nyyazow, for his part, pointed to the two countries' similar stances on the issues related to the Caspian Sea and promotion of economic relations and stressed the need to bolster mutual and regional ties. The two-day summit of the Caspian Sea littoral states was held in the Turkmen capital of Asgabat last April to discuss how to share the inland sea, but wound up with no resolution. During the upcoming trip of Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi to Turkmenistan, the two states will discuss and determine certain date for future visit between the two presidents. /// IRNA Turkmen, Russian leaders discuss cooperation in fight against terrorism Ashgabat, 30 Nov—A telephone conversation took place on 30 November between the president of Turkmenistan, Saparmyrat Nyyazow, and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. The Russian president expressed his sympathy with and support for Saparmyrat [Nyyazow] Turkmenbasy over the recent assassination attempt on his life which has met with strong indignation in Russia. The Russian president stressed the fundamental position of his country of intolerance of any forms of terrorism, and resolutely condemned the terrorist act. The leaders of the two countries agreed on further cooperation in the fight against terrorism, a constant information exchange and coordination of efforts in this direction. The Turkmen president stressed that a group of perpetrators of the terrorist act: [Boris] Syhmyradow [ex-foreign minister], [Hudayberdi] Orazow [former Central Bank chairman], [Muhammet] Hanamow [ex-ambassador to Turkey], are in Russia, and asked for them to be extradited to Turkmenistan, because an investigation has established the irrefutable connection of those people to the recent terrorist act. Vladimir Putin told Saparmyrat Turkmenbasy that he has ordered the prosecutor-general of Russia, [Vladimir] Ustinov, to take efforts in investigating, detaining and deporting the criminals involved in the assassination attempt to Turkmenistan. The Turkmen president thanked the president of Russia for his assistance in the issue and stated in turn that the Russian nationals detained in Turkmenistan in connection with the recent terrorist act will be extradited to the Russian law-enforcement agencies. [Passage to end omitted: The presidents discussed cooperation between the two countries] /// Turkmen Foreign Ministry press release AP reports: Turkmenistan's president appealed directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin to hand over three of the Turkmen opposition figures accused of conspiring to assassinate this Central Asian leader, Turkmen television reported Saturday. President Saparmurat Niyazov made the request during a telephone conversation with Putin, naming three exiled opposition leaders who are reportedly living in Russia. Turkmen television did not give Putin's response. Niyazov's car came under fire from several vehicles and buildings Monday when he was driving to work in the capital Ashgabat. The president was unharmed, but several people were injured including a military police officer who tried to stop the truck but was run over. The government has accused former First Deputy Agriculture Minister Saparmurat Yklymov of masterminding the attack, and alleged that former Foreign Minister Boris Shikhmuradov, former Central Bank chief Khudaiberdi Orazov and former ambassador to Turkey Nurmukhammed Khanamov were all involved. The four exiled opposition members already face charges at home for allegedly embezzling state property. Turkmen television reported that Niyazov asked Putin to extradite Shikhmuradov, Orazov and Khanamov. It was not immediately clear where Yklymov is living. Turkmens loyal to Niyazov have called for the death penalty to be reinstated and applied to anyone convicted in connection with the assassination attempt. Turkmenistan has banned capital punishment since 1999. Niyazov has ruled Turkmenistan since 1985, when it was still part of the Soviet Union. An authoritarian leader at the center of a cult of personality, he has resisted moves toward democracy and economic reforms and cracked down on dissent. /// AP Russians say no extradition requests post-Turkmen assassination attempt Ashgabat, 1 Dec—Russian federal law-enforcement agencies have not received any requests or appeals from Turkmenistan which would be related to a recent assassination attempt on Turkmen President Saparmyrat Nyyazow in Ashgabat, a source with the Russian Prosecutor-General's Office has told Interfax. "Requests related to investigations into incidents of this kind must comply with strictly determined procedures of consideration. Any decisions beyond these procedures are absolutely ruled out," the source emphasized. The Turkmen presidential international information department earlier issued a press release saying that "Russian citizens, whom Turkmen special services detained on suspicion of involvement in the 25 November assassination attempt on President Saparmyrat Nyyazow, will be extradited to Russian law-enforcement authorities". "Three people among those whom Turkmenistan has officially declared as the organizers of the attack are currently on Russian territory; the investigation has irrefutably established their involvement in the recent act of terrorism," the document reads. "The presidential secretariat has received information that the Russian Prosecutor-General's Office will take steps on searching for, detaining and deporting the criminals responsible for the assassination attempt to Turkmenistan," the press release says. /// Interfax Turkmen president plotted attack, says suspected organizer MOSCOW, 30 Nov—A suspected organizer of the recent attack on Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov has stated that the act was plotted by Niyazov himself. Former Prime Minister and former Central Bank Chairman Khudaiberdy Orazov denied allegations that he helped organize the attack. "I learned about it via the radio and the Internet. It was acting," Orazov told the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper in an interview published on Saturday. Niyazov resorted to the act "to dispose of the opposition currently based abroad. He expects help in detention of the opponents and their extradition," he said. "At least an hour before [Niyazov] travels, soldiers and Security Ministry servicemen line up along the highway. If an unknown vehicle appears 200-300 meters ahead, it is being monitored," he said. “Everybody in Turkmenistan knows that Niyazov's cars are invincible. Even a grenade thrower cannot destroy them," he said. On November 25, a Kamaz truck blocked the road while Niyazov's motorcade was proceeding from a country residence to the city. Gunmen fired assault rifles from the truck. Several people including a traffic police officer were wounded. Niyazov remained unhurt. "The act of international terrorism was aimed at undermining Turkmenistan's constitutional norms and destabilizing the situation in the republic," Turkmen leadership announced. About a hundred suspects were arrested. Rallies were held in support of Niyazov and speakers called for executing "the scoundrels who took the path of shaitan." Death penalty is outlawed in Turkmenistan. Former Deputy Prime Minister and former Foreign Minister Boris Shikhmuradov, former Ambassador to Turkey Nurmukhammed Khanamov, former First Deputy Agriculture Minister Saparmurat Yklymov and Orazov are suspected of organizing the attack. Ashgabat asked the Russian Prosecutor General's Office to help locate the suspects. /// Interfax Egyptian envoy presents credentials to Turkmen president Ashgabat, 29 Nov—Egypt's new ambassador to Turkmenistan, Ra'uf Sa'd, presented his credentials to Turkmen President Saparmyrat Nyyazow today, Turkmen Press news agency reported on 29 November. "Today the newly-appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Egypt, Ra'uf Sa'd, presented his credentials to Turkmen President Saparmyrat Nyyazow," the report said. The agency also reported that the Egyptian envoy thanked the Turkmen president for receiving the documents on behalf of the president of Egypt, Husni Mubarak, and himself, and presented a message of sympathy over the terrorist act [assassination attempt against Nyyazow] which took place on 25 November in the Turkmen capital. Ra'uf Sa'd is the Egyptian ambassador resident in Russia. He also serves now as a non-resident ambassador to Turkmenistan. /// Turkmen Press news agency US State Department comments on Assassination Attempt Ashgabat, 29 Nov—We have seen reports of the apparent attempt on Monday, November 25 on the life of Turkmenistan President Saparmurat Niyazov. We strongly deplore this kind of violence and are relieved that President Niyazov was unhurt. We have no comment on speculation about the perpetrators. We expect the Government of Turkmenistan authorities to conduct a full, fair, and transparent investigation into Monday’s incident. /// Press Release by US Embassy at Ashgabat Turkmenistan frees 34 jailed Iranians in goodwill gesture Ashgabat, 1 Dec—The Turkmen government on Saturday [30 November] released 34 Iranians imprisoned mainly for smuggling illicit drugs, Iranian Ambassador to Asgabat Ebrahim Derazgisu has said. Derazgisu, speaking to IRNA, added that Iranian prisoners were delivered to Iran's police located at Bajgiran border point in East Azarbayjan Province. He pointed to the continued decrease in the number of Iranians detained in Turkmenistan, adding that the drugs trafficking was among the main crimes committed by and charges of Iranians in that country. The Turkmen government every year pardons many prisoners on the occasion of Id al-Fitr. The sighting of the new moon at the end of the fasting month of Ramadan heralds the celebration of Id al-Fitr. /// IRNA Turkmenistan to extradite Russians detained under Niyazov attempt case to Moscow ASHGABAT. 1 Dec—Russian citizens, whom Turkmen special services detained on suspicion of involvement in the November 25 assassination attempt on President Saparmurad Niyazov, will be extradited to Russian law enforcement authorities. The Turkmen presidential international information department made this announcement in a press release circulated on Saturday night. "Three people among those whom Turkmenistan has officially declared as the organizers of the attack are currently in Russian territory; the investigation has irrefutably established their involvement in the recent act of terrorism," the document reads. "The presidential secretariat has received information that the Russian Prosecutor General's Office will take steps on searching for, detaining, and deporting the criminals responsible for the assassination attempt to Turkmenistan," the press release says. The Turkmen presidential motorcade came under fire when President Niyazov was en route from his suburban residence to work in downtown Ashgabat at 7 a.m. on November 25. Near the stadium on Turkmenbashi Avenue, which is located in the MIR neighborhood, a Kamaz truck emerged from a lane and cut off a Mercedes driven by Niyazov himself from three escort security cars, which were then immediately fired upon from several automobiles parked nearby and from high rises surrounding the scene. Several members of the security escort and a number of attackers were wounded in the shootout. Sixteen people said to be directly involved in the assassination attempt or its organization were detained on November 26. At the present time, the number of people detained under this case has significantly risen, although no official statements have yet been made on this account. The interrogation of the attackers revealed that the organizer of the attack on the presidential motorcade was former first Turkmen deputy agriculture minister Saparmurat Aklymov, who is currently residing abroad. According to official reports, the detainees said Aklymov had hired them and provided vehicles and weapons. The reports also labeled former Turkmen deputy prime minister and foreign minister Boris Shikhmuradov, former chairman of the Turkmen Central Bank and deputy prime minister Khudaiberdy Orazov, and former Turkmen ambassador to Turkey Nurmukhammed Khanamov as financial and ideological inspirers of the assassination attempt. /// Interfax Turkmen ruler targeted by his own secret services: expert MOSCOW, 28 Nov—The failed assassination bid against Turkmenistan's authoritarian leader Saparmurat Niyazov could have been staged by his own secret services, a Russian hu-man rights campaigner said on Thursday. Early this year, Niyazov foiled a coup plot by the secret services and purged them, sentencing his once powerful security chief Mukhamad Nazarov to 20 years in jail in June, said Vitaly Ponomarev from the Moscow-based Memorial human rights body. The new head of country's national security committee was then fired in September, while many long-serving officers who made their careers in the Soviet-era KGB have been replaced, Ponomarev added. "Niyazov did not need to mount a fake murder bid to unleash a fresh purge, but the secret service men were terribly afraid of one," the expert told AFP. The eccentric leader of Turkmenistan, a largely desert but gas-rich Central Asian nation that borders Iran and Afghanistan to the south, has repeatedly cracked down on corrupt officials. "But from 2000, repression started to affect officials whose faults were fabricated. The privileged elite began to take fright," said Ponomarev. The human rights activist cited an anonymous report on the Turkmen opposition website www.gundogar.org, saying that Niyazov was in a panic as he arrived at the presidency after the attack and "ordered a general alert." The president has accused exiled opposition leaders of organising the shooting attack on his motorcade in the capital Askhabad Monday. Several dozen of their relatives in Turkmenistan have since been detained. Former deputy agriculture minister, Sapar Yklymov, whom Niyazov has labeled as the organizer of the assassination attempt, said that 120 members of his family had been arrested, including his daughter. Speaking to AFP by telephone from Sweden, where he lives in exile, Yklymov said he would try to use international law to get his family released. "We are in discussions with lawyers to launch international legal action," he said. Former foreign minister Boris Shikhmuradov, also branded as one of the ring-leaders, appealed to the Organisation for Cooperation and Security in Europe to "prevent arrests and mass repressions of innocent people in Turkmenistan, following false accusations by Niyazov's regime," in a statement on the opposition website. Known as Turkmenbashi or Father of all Turkmen, Niyazov has ruled the Central Asian republic since 1985 when he was named Communist Party chief, holding onto power after independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. He has built a Stalin-style personality cult and amassed almost absolute power, in 1999 declaring himself president-for-life. /// AFP via Dawn Karachi, 29 Nov Russian language teaching under threat in Turkmenistan Moscow, 29 Nov—The Turkmen authorities have launched a concerted campaign to restrict teaching of the Russian language in the republic, according to the Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta. In an article published on 29 November, the paper said the campaign was being carried out on the orders of President Saparmyrat Nyyazow, and was designed ultimately to force ethnic Russians out of the country. The following is the text of the article: In Turkmenistan little happens spontaneously and each new campaign almost certainly starts at the behest of official Asgabat. This also certainly goes for the next phase of the assault on the Russian language that began in October (when the academic year was in full swing!) Russian language classes are being closed on the pretext of alleged "insufficient numbers" (under current Turkmen regulations, a class must number no less than 30 persons). But in practice, local officials are not satisfied with this, demanding that classes taught in Russian should contain a minimum of 45 persons, including 30 ethnic Russians. The closure of Russian language classes began in the regions where the native Russian population is small. But many groups of Russian speakers of other nationalities - Uzbeks, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Tatars, Ossetians and so on - live there, who would like to give their children a school education in the Russian language. In October, Russian language classes were closed in the settlement of Garrygala, then in the city of Baherden. In the largest city in the country's northeast, Dasoguz, there are only four such classes left. A similar situation is developing in the city of Mary. No-one, of course, asks the views of the Russian-speaking population itself, and complaints go unanswered. For example, just in the months of October and November, residents of the settlement of Garrygala sent in excess of 30 appeals to various authorities to keep education in the Russian language (i.e. various levels of court, the prosecutor's office, the Turkmen Education Ministry, the Russian embassy and the OSCE office in Asgabat). All appeals to the local authorities turned out to be in vain though there was a formal written response from the Prosecutor-General's Office. There was but one "response": Those behind the appeals were summoned for a stern "chat" with the state security organs. And as regards ethnic Turkmens, the tactic of persuasion and appealing to their ethnic consciousness is employed. It is not actually hard to see what the authorities' action plan is (a high-ranking government source said that the Turkmenbasy [President Saparmyrat Nyyazow] gave a direct order to accelerate the process of reducing the Russian language's educational space) - to first "force" the Russian language out of Turkmenistan, followed by its speakers. /// Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Moscow Uzbek leader urges Turkmen president to cooperate in fight against terrorism Ashgabat, 29 Nov—To His Excellency, the president of Turkmenistan, Saparmyrat Atayewic Nyyazow. Esteemed Mr Saparmyrat Atayewic, The report on a terrorist act - the attempt on your life - has caused strong indignation and anxiety in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan has always condemned terrorism in all its manifestations and forms, and is ready for all-round cooperation in the fight against that evil. Esteemed Saparmyrat Atayewic, please accept our sincere wishes to you for health and success in your work, and for peace and prosperity to the Turkmen nation. Islam Karimov, President of Uzbekistan. /// Neytralnyy Turkmenistan, Ashgabat Turkmen former oil and gas minister sent as ambassador to UAE Ashgabat, 28 Nov—Decree by the president [Saparmyrat Nyyazow] of Turkmenistan on [Gurbannazar] Nazarow [former Turkmen oil and gas minister]. Gurbannazar Nazarow is to be appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Turkmenistan to the United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi). [Signed by] The president of Turkmenistan, Saparmyrat Turkmenbasy [Nyyazow]. Decree by the president of Turkmenistan on promoting Nazarow to the rank of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary. Gurbannazar Nazarow is to be promoted to the rank of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary. The president of Turkmenistan, Saparmyrat Turkmenbasy. /// Turkmen Radio Thousands attend sacrifice ceremony in Turkmen president's home village Ashgabat, 28 Nov—Hundreds of people in Turkmenistan today joined meetings in support of the Turkmenbasy, national President Saparmyrat Nyyazow, who survived an assassination attempt Monday [25 November]. Newspapers, radio and television here reported the rancorous statements that the Turkmen made against the perpetrators and executors of the shelling of the presidential cortege on Monday morning. People on the streets wished their president many long years of life and new achievements in governing the country. The staff of Turkmenistan's Foreign Ministry sent a letter to the Great Saparmyrat Nyyazow, the Benefactor of all the Turkmen, the Diamond Crown, and the President for Life. "The attempt against your invaluable life inflicted a wound on all the people of Turkmenistan," said the diplomats. "The nation, united in a concerted motion, gives you support and assurances that it will always walk the same path with you." To mark President Nyyazow's successful escape from the assassins, the ritual of offering a sacrifice - agyzachar-sadaka - was organized in line with requirements of the holy month of Ramadan in his native village after sunset. The common prayer drew thousands of people from across the land. Turkmen television said the sadaka had been offered in the name of Saparmyrat Turkmenbasy, the guarantor of stability, peace, happiness, and the flourishing of the people of independent Turkmenistan. /// ITAR-TASS Sezer sends a message to Turkmenbashy Ankara, 28 Nov—President Ahmet Necdet Sezer sent his best wishes to Turkmenistan President Saparmurat Turkmenbasi and voiced his relief that the head of state was safe after an assassination attempt. In his message, Sezer condemned terrorism and supported any cooperation to stop national or international terrorist attacks. Ninth president Suleyman Demirel called Turkmenbasi on Tuesday with his best wishes. Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Georgian President Edvard Sevardnadze and Ukranian President Leonid Kucma also sent messages to Turkmanbasi. /// Turkish Daily News Palestinian leader condemns "terrorist" act in Turkmen capital Ashgabat, 28 Nov—To his Excellency Mr Saparmyrat Nyyazow, the president of Turkmenistan: Your excellency, I have great satisfaction in expressing, on behalf of the Palestinian people, their leadership, and on my own behalf, to your excellency, and to the Turkmen government and also to the fraternal Turkmen people, our deep happiness that this dirty criminal act of an assassination attempt on your life was not succesful. The bad news of the attack was completely unexpected for us and we asked God Almighty to extend his protection upon you. We severely condemn this criminal act aimed at disturbing the security and stability in fraternal Turkmenistan. Taking advantage of the occasion, we express our gratitude to your excellency for your efforts in establishing and strengthening relations of fraternity and solidarity between our countries and peoples. We are making constant efforts to strengthen and develop these relations because this serves our common interests. Your excellency, let me convey to you once more our congratulations and our wishes for sound health and happiness to you and for progress and prosperity to the people of the fraternal country. Yasir Arafat, the president of the State of Palestine, the chairman of the Executive Council of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the head of the Palestinian National Authority. /// Turkmen Radio Turkmen ruling party chief says foreigners behind assassination attempt Ashgabat, 27 Nov—Those who attacked President Saparmyrat Nyyazow's motorcade in the Turkmen capital, Asgabat, on 25 November, were all foreigners, according to a statement made by the head of Turkmenistan's ruling Democratic Party, Onjyk Musayew. In his remarks at a mass rally organized in Asgabat on the next day, Musayew said: "They were foreign nationals, a company, hired and paid by Syhmyradow [Turkmen ex-foreign minister, currently a leader of the opposition in exile] and they came here as part of a conspiracy and here they were joined by the Yklymows [family of former minister of agriculture in exile] and Jumayews [family of prominent Asgabat businessman]. These [perpetrators] are all foreign nationals, Georgians, Armenians, and Russians. These villains came here, to our country illegally, to do dirty deeds." The participants of the meeting supported a proposal made by Musayew to bring the opposition leaders back to the country and try them as the organizers and inspirers of the alleged attempt to assassinate President Nyyazow. The participants of the meeting, a report on which was carried by Turkmenistan's state-run Altyn Asyr TV channel, also adopted an address to President Nyyazow expressing their full support for his policy. /// Turkmen TV Turkmen government declares assassination bid ‘attempted coup d’etat’ Ashgabat, 2 Dec—Serdar Durdiev, spokesman of President Niyazov, addressed a press conference in the foreign office. Here is complete transcript of his briefing: President of Turkmenistan called a meeting of cabinet of ministers today. Protection of environment was discussed during today because soon there will be some programmes on state level on this issue. Water share for Ashgabat and surrounding areas was also discussed in the meeting. The questions concerning textile industry and currency regulation were also dealt with. It will be in the papers tomorrow. Prosecutor General submitted a report about the plot against the government. Twenty-three persons have been arrested so far. Thirty-seven pieces of small arms were recovered from them. These include Klashnikov, pistols and carbines. Also recovered were communication equipment, camouflage uniforms and masks. Today we can say that it was an attempted coup d’etat against the constitutional government of Turkmenistan. As a matter of fact it was an attempt to overthrow the government through violent means. Leaders of this plot were Sheikhmuradov, Hanamov, Orazov and Yklymov. The plot was conceived by Sheikhmuradov. He himself was involved in getting the criminals into the country and arranging arms for them. Within the boundaries of Turkmenistan the plot was led by Gowunch Jumayev who issued orders to the criminals. During the investigation the picture became clear. Kamaz separated the presidential motorcade [into two parts] and the fire was opened from three sides. Some persons were injured. I will tell you how it was planned and executed. The plot was conceived well in advance. The criminals began arriving Turkmenistan from May 2002. Sheikhmuradov arranged to send these persons and he also arranged passports and visas for them. They were from different countries. They legalized themselves here and were hired as employees by the firms of Jumayev and Yklymov. Then they awaited further orders. They were promised monetary rewards for their services and the individual sums promised to them were in four figures [presumably in US dollars]. The night before the attempted coup they gathered at the dacha of Jumayev at Chuganly. On the day of the attempted coup they began moving to the designated spot at 5 AM and the arms were concealed in Kamaz. After 7 AM the incident took place but they failed in their attempt. They were in touch with each other through wireless communication equipment. The aim was to cease power in Turkmenistan. It was already decided as to who will be in what position in the new government; portfolios had been allocated already. Some of the criminals were arrested immediately after the incident. The others were caught after some hours or days. Caches of arms and ammunition were discovered; for instance at the house belonging to Yklymov, at the graveyard on Garashsyzlyk. Carbines, camouflage uniforms and masks were among the items discovered. Mafiosi clans of Jumayev and Yklymov were active locally in this plot. Financiers, organizers and plotters have been identified. Sheikhmuradov, Hanamov, Orazov and others were among them who plotted this act of terrorism. Legally speaking, plotters and organizers also bear the blame along with those who carry it out. Some of those who are under arrest came from abroad. Please don’t add your own comments to what I am saying. Foreigners who came from abroad and who have several nationalities were from different countries. To which country each of them actually belongs, we are trying to figure out. Some of them were arrested with forged passports and they themselves are saying something different from what their documents indicate. Once it is clear as to which countries they belong to, we will release this information. As you know, our president spoke to President Putin on the phone. It was decided that if there were any Russian citizens are among those who have been apprehended, they would be handed over to Russia. Tomorrow at 9 PM Turkmen TV will show a long interview of Prosecutor General. Please don’t miss it as there will be lot of facts and figures in her interview. Among them who have been arrested there are more than half foreigners. Up to now no one of them has been proved to be Russian citizen. Gowunch Jumayev was actually at the spot [of the incident] commanding these people and some members of his family also participated in this plot including his son Timur. /// nCa One passage from report by Turkmen TV: The Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan held a meeting today. It was chaired by Turkmen President Saparmyrat Nyyazow. Its agenda included various important issues presented for consideration. The meeting was broadcast by Turkmen TV first channel. Speaking about an attempt on his own life on 25 November, Nyyazow mentioned those he thought were behind the attack and the president blamed foreign countries for being responsible for some protests in Asgabat and said that they follow their own national interests. "Five hundred young men gathered in a park, they drank, ate, they [word indistinct] a trolleybus on Magtymguly Street; why do they do that? Would these children think of this themselves? No. And those children who came to [the protest in front of] the theatre. No. Who is behind this? Our scoundrels are. Why do they need it? They were also given [word indistinct] by another country, they are told to talk about democracy. They try to challenge us, and if we fight them, they say human rights are being violated. They all have political purposes, national purposes," the president said. The report did not show the prosecutor-general of Turkmenistan, Gurbanbibi Atajanowa speaking at the meeting. ITAR-TASS reported at 1240 gmt the same day that Atajanowa was heard speaking at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan about the investigation into the attempt on the president's life. /// Turkmen TV ITAR-TASS reports: The attempted armed coup in Turkmenistan on 25 November was aimed at a violent seizure of power and an overthrow of the constitutional system, thinks the country's prosecutor-general. Such an evaluation of the terrorist act in the centre of [the Turkmen capital] Asgabat, when part of the presidential motorcade was fired on by the plotters, was heard today at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan. The journalists were informed about the matter at a special briefing by the head of the Department of International News at the Turkmen president's office, Serdar Durdyyew. The prosecutor-general, Gurbanbibi Atajanowa, also made a speech on the process of the investigation into the attempt on the president's life. She said that 23 people had been detained so far, more than half of whom are foreigners whose nationalities are being ascertained, Durdyyew said. [passage omitted, further details on preparations made for the attempted assassination] /// ITAR-TASS AP reports: A prominent Turkmen businessman has been charged with organizing an assassination attempt against President Saparmurat Niyazov, officials said Monday. Guvanch Dzhumayev stands accused of organizing what Turkmen officials have labeled an attempted coup, Niyazov spokesman Serdar Durdyev said. Niyazov's car came under fire from several vehicles and buildings last week when he was driving to work in the capital Ashgabat. The president was unharmed, but several people were injured, including a military police officer who tried to stop the truck but was run over. The government accuses four exiled former government officials of masterminding the attack. The four already face charges at home for allegedly embezzling state property. Three of them are believed to be living in Russia former Foreign Minister Boris Shikhmuradov, ex-Central Bank chief Khudaiberdi Orazov and former ambassador to Turkey Nurmukhammed Khanamov Officials have not said where they believe the fourth man, former First Deputy Agriculture Minister Saparmurat Yklymov, is living. However, on the day of the attack, Niyazov said he had asked Turkey, as well as Russia, to extradite the four alleged conspirators. Dzhumayev was the main organizer of the attack within Turkmenistan, the presidential spokesman said. Dzhumayev is known as an importer of pharmaceuticals and other products. According to the Moscow Helsinki Group, a respected Russian human rights organization, Dzhumayev published an independent newspaper in the early 1990s that was shut down by Turkmen authorities for its critical reporting. A total of 23 people had been arrested for attempting to stage a coup, the spokesman Durdyev said. He said 37 guns, including automatic rifles, radios and other items had been confiscated from the suspects. "The assassination was planned over the course of several months," he said. "Their plan envisioned seizing power in the country." Niyazov has led Turkmenistan since 1985, when it was still a part of the Soviet Union. He has resisted moves toward democracy and economic reforms and cracked down on dissent, forcing many opposition figures into exile. A personality cult has grown up around Niyazov, with his portrait adorning the national currency and most public buildings. /// AP More details from Turkmen TV report: President Niyazov chaired a session of cabinet of ministers. Here are excerpts from Niyazov’s speech during the session: We shall consider the events of 25 November in Ashgabat. High organs are investigating the incident thoroughly. Detailed report will be telecast by Turkmen TV tomorrow. Findings must be clear. Who were the persons involved in this, whether they were locals or foreigners, how long was this thing in planning, who provided arms and ammunition? What would have happened in the country had they succeeded in their plans? There is no [desire for] democracy behind all this. Law enforcement agencies should keep reporting their progress on weekly basis. [President Niyazov signed a decree for nature protection. He also signed another decree for provision of water to Ashgabat till 2030. according to the decree, water for human consumption in Ashgabat should be provided from mountain springs/streams. Further decrees signed during the session included construction of a textile mills in Wekilbazar at the cost of US $ 53 million and setting up of a silk factory with annual capacity of 5000 tons.] [In order to tighten foreign currency transactions, Niyazov signed a decree to limit the authorized signatories for dealing with foreign banks at state level to President of Turkmenistan and head of central bank only. More details on decrees about banking and railways can be found in the papers.] Gurbanbibi (Prosecutor General): They had contacted people in many parts of the country. They were planning to set up a supreme council [presumably on conclusion of a successful coup]. Sheikhmuradov, Orazov, Hanamov and Yklymov would have been members of the council. Investigations will clear these points further. We have arrested 23 persons so far and more arrests are expected. They promised US $ 50000 to each hired criminal in case of success of [attempt to cease power] and US $ 25000 each in case of failure. Niyazov: Sheikhmuradov has been like a snake for us. In 1991 I visited India. Babayev [former head of academy of sciences] and Durdiev [then secretary of the party] recommended Abdy Kuliev for appointment as foreign minister as he had a lot of experience in this field. I trusted him to this job. In India Kuliev introduced me to Sheikhmuradov as an experienced person in this field. His father Oraz Sheikhmuradov was a KGB operative who was a known criminal. Or people should know that Oraz Sheikhmuradov killed some persons by shooting in their back. They were two [killers] and one of them was Oraz. He continued his criminal activities [in KGB] for 9 years until he was exposed in 1939. In later period some people helped him. In Batyrov became party secretary and helped him in getting new job. Kuliev recommended Sheikhmuradov and both of them worked here. Kuliev was related to Sheikhmuradov and I didn’t know about that. Boris [Sheikhmuradov] was involved in illegal sale of military aircraft and other hardware. Orazov was a good specialist but later he changed because money spoils some people. Yklymov and Jumayev are also big criminals. Border services should work better because guns are being smuggled into the country through public transport. Custom service is doing better under Grishin. I am getting weekly reports. Security service and border service will have to do better. Now there will be new regulations for visa. Register the foreigners who are entering and leaving the country. Foreign office and other organs will jointly have to oversee this. New regulations should cater for a number of questions such as time of arrival and departure, purpose of visit, who receives them and what are they doing here. [Alluding to a demonstration in Ashgabat in 1995 near the US embassy, Niyazov speculated that some foreign powers may have been involved in this incident also.] Sheikhmuradov was a KGB agent. When he was a student in Moscow his nickname was ‘Provocateur’. As ambassador to China he was involved in sale of Ukrainian arms to Pakistan. I got a special letter from Ukraine about this. I asked him to return to Ashgabat but Nazarov [former head of KNB] informed him that he will be arrested if he returns to Ashgabat. Nazarov did the same thing with Hanamov also. I asked him to call Hanamov urgently back to the country as his involvement was indicated in some crimes but Nazarov waited on the pretext that things will improve. Hanamov’s crimes are such that he can be imprisoned for 25 years 5 times over. His father was an influential person but I didn’t fall under his influence. /// Turkmen TV Turkmenistan Not Asking Moscow for Information on Assassination Attempt Internet, 1 Dec—The Russian Prosecutor General's office said it has not received any requests or appeals from Turkmenistan concerning a recent assassination attempt against Turkmen President Saparmurad Niyazov. Earlier reports said that Turkmen President Niyazov asked Moscow to hand over three opposition figures whom he blames for the attempt on his life. Turkmenistan says the three are in Russia. Mr. Niyazov, who was targeted in a shooting on his motorcade in the capital Ashkhabad Monday, survived the assassination attempt. The Turkmen leader has blamed political opponents of being behind the attempt on his life. /// VoA Tracer, Canneft pursue Turkmen concession Internet, 2 Dec—Tracer Petroleum and Canneft continue discussions with the government of Turkmenistan and its prospective partners for rights to explore the Adzhiyap concession. Tracer will scheduled to attend further meetings as well as the Turkmenistan Oil and Gas Conference in mid-December. Tracer officials said the company is pleased with the ongoing relations between itself, Canneft and the prospective joint venture partners, and believes a concerted effort continues toward completing a production sharing contract. /// Oil Online Turkmenistan hands over seven prisoners to Afghanistan under Eid al-Fitr amnesty Balkh, 1 Dec—The president of the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan, Hamed Karzai, has had a telephone call with Saparmyrat Turkmenbasy [Nyyazow], the president of Republic of Turkmenistan, about the delivery [to Afghanistan] on the occasion of the holy days of Eid al-Fitr of seven Afghan prisoners who were arrested on various grounds. The prisoners were handed over to Afghan officials via the Aqina border [northwestern Fariab Province] last night. The following were present during the delivery of the seven prisoners: Gen Ebadullah, the commander of national security of Jowzjan [Province]; Ayub Sabiri, the official in charge of protocol of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jowzjan; Kabauf, the consul of Turkmenistan in Mazar, and the consul of the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan in Mary [southern Turkmenistan]. Then, the Afghan officials thanked the people and the president of Turkmenistan for their help in different situations. Then, the officials of Turkmenistan spoke of the relations between the two countries and wished that these relations would continue forever. Finally, the document on the delivery of the seven prisoners was handed over to the Afghan officials, and those who were delivered were taken to their destination. /// Balkh TV, Mazar-e Sharif
Armenian nationals leave Turkmenistan for home with Norwegian help Ashgabat, 2 Dec—A total of 114 Armenian nationals, including 37 children, left for their fatherland last week with the assistance of the International Organization for Migration [the IOM],