The Russian Embassy in Ashgabat to resolve problem of dual nationals 26.07.2010
 On July 19 at 9 a.m. the representative of the Consulate office addressed the crowd, which congregated in front of the Russian Embassy in Ashgabat and announced that Turkmen residents who had acquired Russian citizenship in 2003 could freely leave Turkmenistan to go to Russia. Those who obtained Russian citizenship after the year of 2003 will be given a three-month Russian visa.
Needless to say, this is an absurd situation–Russia citizens being forced to obtain Russian visas. Apparently this was the only way for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to come to an agreement with their Turkmen counterparts. There is a group of residents, who acquired citizenship before 2003 but due to various reasons their Russian passports were issued later. The Russian Embassy issued a certificate proving that they had obtained citizenship in 2003. However, the Turkmen Border Guard and Migration Services do not recognize such certificates.
The Russian consulate office also issues visas to these people along with those who exchanged their Russian passports obtained in 2003 with new ones (passports are valid for 5 years) and individuals holding Russian domestic passports and residence registration in Russia, so that they avoid any problems when exiting Turkmenistan.
Despite the fact that the Russian diplomats are taking certain steps to resolve the problems with dual nationals, there are quite a few cases where holders of Russian-Turkmen dual citizenship are barred from boarding the flights bound for Moscow.
Even if an individual had obtained Russian citizenship before 2003, but he/she is accompanied by a minor who acquired citizenship status after 2003, the child will be prevented from exiting Turkmenistan.
There are cases where those individuals whose documents allegedly meet all requirements (date of acquiring citizenship or date of visa issue) were prevented from boarding the plane. The Russian Embassy failed to provide any explanation and referred them to Turkmenistan’s Migration Service. A large number of people is crowding there, a majority of whom only hold Turkmen citizenship, who were barred from departing to various countries abroad without any explanation. For instance, a group of former students from Bishkek who had been transferred to Turkish universities were also not allowed to board the plane and were given no explanation.
Following the actions of the Turkmen authorities many Turkmen citizens are affected. In the meantime the Russian Embassy in Ashgabat often works up until10 p.m. trying to somehow resolve the situation, which has been provoked by the Turkmen side. | 
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