Struggling for a Passport 09.07.2010 by Arkadii Dubnov
Panic is growing among holders of dual Russian-Turkmen citizenship living in Turkmenistan. As our newspaper reported (see Vremia Novostei from July 5), since the beginning of July, without explanation, the Turkmen authorities have not allowed several dozens of Turkmen citizens who also hold Russian citizenship to cross through passport control with a Russian passport. They were told they must give up one of their citizenships because in accordance with Article 7 of the Constitution of Turkmenistan, a citizen of that country cannot hold any other citizenship.
Once again, yesterday morning, at least 11 people who hold Russian passports were not allowed to depart on the Moscow flight from Ashgabat. Evgenii Levkoev, the head of the Consular Service of the Russian embassy in Ashgabat, told Vremia Novostei by phone that he spoke to employees of the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan who refused to give their names, an order that came from high levels of leadership. Mr. Levkoev underscored that the Turkmen side did not coordinate its activity with the Russian Consulate. According to him, Russian diplomats “are not in a position to understand the dynamics of these activities of the Turkmen authorities, even thought there are ongoing working contacts with various departments in Ashgabat and the existence of Russian-Turkmen bilateral agreements.”
During the past several days, Russian and international press have reported on this scandalous situation, which was created thanks to the unprecedented activity of Ashgabat.
In response, on July 7, the Turkmenistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement, which called “the distribution among the mass media of knowingly false information about the current issue,” an attempt “to negatively influence the traditional friendly and good-neighborly relationship of Turkmenistan with the Russian Federation.” Presenting in the document a statement from the Constitution on the lack of acknowledgement of dual citizenship for a Turkmen citizen, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that in accordance with the Turkmen law “on departure from Turkmenistan, in order to cross the state border of Turkmenistan, citizens must have in their passport an exit visa from the foreign government from which the citizen is immediately departing.” “Regarding foreign citizens—it says in this announcement,--the law of Turkmenistan “On Migration,” states that foreign citizens and individuals without citizenship may enter and stay on the territory of Turkmenistan on the basis of an entry visa to Turkmenistan.”
In this way, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, without even attempting to refute the news reported in Vremia Novostei, tries to provide a legal basis for it. It looks simple: Ashgabat is insisting on the legality of a one-sided departure by Turkmenistan from the agreement on dual citizenship, which was signed in December 1993 by the presidents of Russia and Turkmenistan—Boris Yeltsin and Saparmurat Niyazov. As is well known, this decision was made by Mr. Niyazov on April 23, 2003, and was not deemed legal by Moscow. At that time the scandal was extinguished only after Turkmenbashi, who has since been buried, promised that the rights of Russian citizens in Turkmenistan would not be violated. It is obvious that at that time Ashgabat was not in a position to aggravate its relationship with Moscow, with whom it had, on April 10 of that year, signed a 25 year agreement on a strategic gas partnership. Russia remained, basically, a monopoly buyer of Turkmen gas, and therefore, it was dangerous to risk even the cost of the complete elimination of the presence of Russian citizens in Turkmenistan.
During the course of seven years, the situation has changed. Russia has already ceased to be the major user of Turkmen hydrocarbons, and a pipeline has been built to China. And the dream of Turkmenbashi to limit to a minimum the presence of foreigners in the country by forcing them to give up their dual citizenship can happen without serious economic risks.
It appears that Ashgabat long ago stopped worrying about reputational losses. Turkmenistan is listed in all the world ratings of dictatorial regimes because of its total violation of human rights.
Furthermore, if one pays attention to articles 6 and 46 of the Constitution of Turkmenistan, where it states, “Turkmenistan recognizes the priority of generally accepted norms of international law” and that “the law that reduces the position of a citizen does not have retroactive force” then it is clear that the Turkmen authorities are grossly violating a basic law of their country.
For now, all the signs point to the fact that Ashgabat is preparing for a mass refusal of “dual” citizens of their Turkmen citizenship and their transfer to a circumstance of foreign citizens with residency. Judging by everything, this will be demanded from those who received their Russian passports after April 2003, and do not have a stamp from the Russian consulate in Ashgabat. In fact, the current action of the Turkmen authorities is directed precisely at the holders of those passports.
In fairness, it is important to note that the current illegal activity also includes those with dual Turkmen-Turkish and Turkmen-German citizenship. The difference is that Turkmenistan did not sign an agreement on dual citizenship with Turkey or Germany. And among the holders of Russian citizenship in Turkmenistan, just as seven years ago, a quiet panic has begun. Many are planning to leave for Russia, afraid to return. And others, on the other hand, are not risking departure from Turkmenistan, fearing that on the border their Russian passports will be taken from them. They are already seeking other ways to leave, beginning to sell their belongings and property, which is being used for their own benefit by local bureaucrats.
As Evgenii Levkoev told Vremia Novostei yesterday, “Moscow receives from the Russian diplomatic missions all the necessary information on what is going on in Turkmenistan with accompanying commentary.” However, neither the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the Kremlin has dealt in any way with the flagrant violation of the rights of its fellow citizens. Nearly 120 thousand of them are in Turkmenistan.
Translated by Crude Accountability |
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