Uncertain Times for Turkmenistan's Dual Passport Holders

People who hold Russian as well as Turkmen nationality were hoping that President Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov’s visit to Moscow last week would leave them feeling in a more secure position.

Analysts say the reason why Turkmen and Russian leaders summit failed to agree a visa relaxation which would resolve the uncertain status of dual passport holders stems from the Turkmen authorities’ continuing suspicion of anyone able to travel freely in and out of the country.

The Turkmen leader’s visit to Russia on March 24 and 25 ended with the signing of a number of agreements ranging from mutual recognition of educational qualifications to cooperation between their respective security forces.

People who hold dual Turkmen-Russian nationality were hoping for a fresh start, where the government in Ashgabat would no longer suspect them of disloyalty simply because – unlike those who only have Turkmen passports – they are able to travel to Russia and other former Soviet states without first obtaining a visa.

Their hopes had been raised by remarks which Russian deputy prime minister Viktor Zubkov made during a March 23 meeting of an inter-governmental commission, suggesting that visa requirements between the two states might be relaxed and subsequently abolished altogether.

If the visa requirement was removed, the dual passport holders would no longer represent an annoying anomaly for the Turkmen authorities.

Since the dual nationality arrangement was introduced in 1993, an estimated 100,000 people – of Turkmen as well as Russian ethnicity – have obtained the prized second passport.

Possession of the document not only opens the door to visa-free visits to Russia and its immediate neighbours, but also makes it a lot easier to obtain visas for western states.

For example, one ethnic Russian from western Turkmenistan says his second passport allows him to visit relatives abroad without problems, unlike his elderly neighbour who is also of Russian origin, but only has a Turkmen passport.

“She had to wait six weeks before she could obtain a [Russian] visa, while all I have to do is buy a ticket and go,” he said.

The reciprocal agreement was annulled unilaterally by Turkmenistan when a failed assassination attempt in late 2002 prompted the then president Saparmurat Niazov to tighten border controls.

Despite this, people with dual citizenship have continued using their Russian passports for foreign travel to avoid having to apply for visas.

Sources in local government say officials quietly approved new applications for the right to hold dual nationality even after the arrangement was formally annulled.

“Over these years [since 2003], about 150 people have paid large bribes and secretly obtained Russian passports,” said a local government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Apart from ease of travel, people say having a second passport makes you feel a little more secure – and you are treated with greater respect.

“Officials from law enforcement and the Ministry for National Security treat them [dual passport holders] with more caution,” said one commentator in Ashgabat. “If you hold dual nationality, they will treat you differently”.

Another observer added, “Dual nationality gives you some security and the sense that you are not alone, that you could seek protection in Moscow.”

After the Turkmen authorities started issuing new-style passports last summer, however, people began reporting warnings from officials that they would not get the new documents unless they renounced their Russian citizenship. (For a report on this trend, see Dual Nationality Holders Face Obstructions, News Briefing Central Asia, 07-Mar-09.)

This policy suggests that the authorities harbour a lingering suspicion of people who appear to have an allegiance other than to Turkmenistan, and may explain why the recent summit did not result in a breakthrough on the visa question.

Analysts say the Turkmen government is still reluctant to allow people to travel unhindered to Russia and further afield.

“The dual nationality held by some Turkmen makes it difficult to control and pressure them,” said Vyacheslav Mamedov, head of the Civil Democratic Union, a Turkmen émigré group based in the Netherlands. “The Turkmen authorities resent the idea that such citizens enjoy the legal protection of another country.”

A journalist working on a state-run national newspaper said the authorities viewed dual passport holders as “a real threat”. The reason was simply that these people “enjoy more freedom of action”, he added – they can go abroad and describe conditions in Turkmenistan, and while they are outside the country they can read things that are forbidden and unavailable at home.

A journalist in the northern province of Dashoguz suggested the government wanted one set of rules to fit all.

“The authorities want to make everyone equal,” he said. “Dual nationality holders are a thorn in their side because they enjoy greater freedom.”

Within Turkmenistan, holding a Russian passport is grounds for discrimination rather than privilege, and people often conceal their special status for fear of being dismissed from work or expelled from university.

A journalist with state television recalled a colleague who used her second passport to spend some time working in Russia. On her return, she found her job had been filled and no one was willing to take her on.

“Her application was rejected by the foreign ministry,” said the journalist. “It was stamped with the word ‘Denied’. The authorities do not trust people with dual nationality.”

The pressure to apply for new Turkmen passports, coupled with Moscow’s apparent inability to support the Russian citizens, leaves many facing a difficult choice.

“My old Turkmen passport expires in 2013, and then I’ll have to apply for a new one and become a citizen of just one country,” said a woman from northern Turkmenistan. “It’s a tremendous strain.”

An ethnic Tatar who has had two passports for the last decade, is pessimistic about the prospects of a change in Turkmen government policy.

“Judging by the outcome of the meeting between the Turkmen and Russian presidents, the Turkmen authorities can do whatever they want,” he said. “So they will insist that people with dual nationality renounce one of their passports.”

(The names of interviewees in Turkmenistan have been withheld for security reasons.)