Winds of Change in Turkmenistan
Posted: 11 January 2008
I have just returned from the gas-rich Central Asian country of Turkmenistan.
Under its new President, Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedow, this once secretive country is opening up to the world.
Since it is located along one of the biggest opium trafficking routes from Afghanistan to the West, Turkmenistan has been feeling the effects of drugs and crime along its borders.
In my meetings with the President, it is clear that the winds of change are blowing in favour of greater regional and international cooperation to strengthen Turkmenistan's drug control capacity.
We discussed joint projects to strengthen border management along Turkmenistan's borders with Afghanistan and Iran, and to develop a national Drug Control Agency. We also spoke about the Caspian Sea Initiative which is designed to enhance security along that important flank.
A much colder wind was blowing when we landed at the exact spot where the borders of Afghanistan, Iran and Turkmenistan meet - a three hour helicopter ride from the capital Ashgabat. In howling winds, three feet of snow and temperatures of minus 17 degrees, we joined 18 year-old soldiers with frost bitten hands, patrolling a bleak and desolate landscape. A fence, built to stop traffickers, runs as far as the eye can see. There is no plumbing or running water (cold or hot).
With all this in front of my eyes, I asked myself whether drug addicts and traffickers alike are aware of the sacrifices that they are imposing on others, to feed their craving and to stuff their wallets.