Since the mid-1990s, Turkmenistan has proclaimed the status of permanent neutrality, recognized by the UN, and the principle of establishing good neighborliness with all neighboring countries. The military doctrine of the state, developed under the direct supervision of the first president of the republic, Saparmurat Niyazov, is based on the policy of non-aggression and non-military political resolution of conflict situations. During the years of independence, the difficult path of becoming a small and, according to many experts, combat-ready army has been passed. Although it should be noted that the structure of the Turkmen army has remained virtually unchanged since the Soviet era.
Meanwhile, the Turkmen armed forces are currently one of the strongest among the former Soviet republics of Central Asia. The Turkmen SSR was once the base of the 1st combined-arms army of the Turkestan military district, the main operational direction of which in the event of war was aimed along the Ashgabat-Tehran axis towards Baghdad. Therefore, the strongest divisions of the TurkVO were deployed in Turkmenistan, and after the collapse of the USSR, this republic got the largest army set of weapons and equipment in the district.
Naturally, the leadership of the new independent state was unable to manage such a mass of troops. Therefore, in 1992, the "Treaty on joint measures in connection with the creation of the armed forces of Turkmenistan" was signed, according to which the Russian Federation acted as a guarantor of the security of this country. Units and divisions of the border troops, air force and air defense remained under the command of Russia, and the rest of the military formations of the former Turkestan military district gradually came under the leadership of Ashgabat (within ten years). For the transitional period, Moscow undertook to provide the republic with military-technical support and pay compensation for the right to deploy its equipment on the territory of Turkmenistan.
However, differences in the understanding of military development and the military-political course led to the dissolution of the Joint Command in 1994, and in 1999 to the revision of the Treaty on Border Cooperation and the complete withdrawal of the Russian "green caps". Although the entire border infrastructure of Turkmenistan was inherited from the USSR, this still determines the deployment of its forces along the Turkmen-Iranian and Turkmen-Afghan borders. Thus, for more than 7 years, the border troops have been subordinate only to their commander-in-chief, and since 1995 the armed forces of the republic have been directly subordinate to the President of the republic.
Since Turkmenistan is the only one among all the post-Soviet countries that is not a member of any military-political or military alliance and rather pragmatically avoids the implementation of many political and economic tasks of Central Asia, the Turkmen authorities began to involve specialists from different states in solving their military problems, sometimes having between a very strained relationship. In particular, since 1999, American instructors have been working in Turkmenistan, preparing a special unit of border troops to combat the delivery and drug trafficking. In 1999-2000, 13 Turkmen officers were trained at the Pentagon.
Paying with gas supplies or the currency received for it, Turkmenbashi repaired his Su-25 attack aircraft in Tbilisi, and MiG-29 fighters in Ukraine. He bought combat boats from Kyiv, radars of the "Kolchuga" type, in Russia - any other weapon.
Turkmenistan is actually the most neutral of all states in the former Soviet Union. Turkmenistan has not signed the Collective Security Treaty, nor is it a member of the GUAM bloc (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova, and, until recently, Uzbekistan). Turkmenistan also pursued an emphatically neutral policy with regard to the Afghan war, maintaining even relations both with the Taliban and with the Northern Alliance. Even after the events of September 11, 2001, the allied troops did not appear on the territory of the republic, in particular, Niyazov refused to provide the German government with a base for German aircraft, arguing his position by the fact that the republic intends to continue to follow the principles of neutrality.
Speaking about the armed forces of Turkmenistan, one cannot fail to note some specific features that are not inherent in the armies of other states. According to some experts who managed to visit the country, and from local media reports, military personnel are actively involved in construction, economic and other work. In 2006, the state traffic inspectorate was transferred from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the Ministry of Defense, and the State Road Supervision Service of Turkmenistan was established. Soldiers stepped on the roads of the country instead of policemen. The servicemen have also mastered the profession of railway conductors and are now working on passenger flights. As noted by the management of the railway, with the advent of soldiers, passenger service has improved.
According to the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper, almost 200 servicemen have been serving in the Ashgabat Motor Transport Production Association for the second year. Some of them passed the exam and got the license to drive trucks. There were several such batches of graduates. It is also planned to train soldiers to drive trolleybuses, then they will be used on passenger trolleybus routes. In addition, the soldiers are engaged in cleaning streets, parks, squares, garbage collection, watering, planting trees, etc. In addition to the communal sector, they mastered the baking business. Bread for the people of Ashgabat has been baked for several years, including by military personnel. In some hospitals and polyclinics, soldiers have taken on the duties of junior and middle medical and technical personnel.
Landing units and formations
In the last years before the collapse of the USSR, the 56th separate air assault brigade was stationed on the territory of the Turkmen SSR (Iolotan). The brigade was withdrawn to the territory of Russia, but one of its battalions remained in Iolotan. This battalion was included in the formed Turkmen army and received a new name - the 152nd odshb.
The 152nd separate airborne assault battalion was stationed in the city of Yolotan until the spring of 2003 and was soon redeployed.
According to media reports, the 152nd separate air assault brigade was deployed on the basis of the 152nd air assault brigade.
The 152nd brigade is currently (as of 2005) based at the 99th aviation base "Mary-2".
Information about the armed forces of Turkmenistan Historical background on the armed forces (from the past to the present) After the collapse of the USSR, a large Soviet military group passed under the jurisdiction of Turkmenistan: from the Turkestan military district - the department of the 36th army corps, 58th (Kizyl-Arvat), 84th (Ashgabat), 88th Kushka) MSD, 61st training MOD (Ashgabat), 156th (Mary-2) and 217th (Kizyl-Arvat) aviation regiments of fighter-bombers 49th air army, from the 12th separate air defense army - the 17th air defense division (Ashgabat) with 2 anti-aircraft missile brigades, the 12th radio engineering brigade and the 64th radio engineering regiment "152nd (Aktepe) and 179th guards (Nebit-Dag) fighter aviation regiments, some parts of the Caspian flotilla, as well as a number of other military formations. In the military-technical aspect, this Soviet legacy was characterized by the following figures: main and medium tanks - 530, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers and armored personnel carriers - 1132, field artillery guns, mortars and MLRS with a caliber of more than 100 mm - 540, combat aircraft - 314, combat and other helicopters - 20, as well as several small warships and boats. Border detachments were deployed on the territory of the Turkmen SSR (135th Nebit-Dagsky, 67th Kara-Kalinsky, 71st Bakhardensky, 45th Serakhsky, 46th Kaakhka, 47th Kerkinsky and 68th Takhta-Bazarsky) , sea and river units of the border troops of the Central Asian border district of the KGB of the USSR. Until 1999, border protection in the Turkmen sector (including at sea) was carried out jointly with the border troops of the Russian Federation, but they left the country at the request of its leadership. In addition, the Turkmens got the material base and weapons of the internal troops and civil defense troops of the former USSR located in the republic. 1. Organizational structure and human potential of the armed forces of Turkmenistan The military machine of Turkmenistan includes the troops and forces of the Ministry of Defense, the State Border Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Security Committee and the Presidential Security Service. In addition, it includes the State Courier Service and the State Service for the Registration of Foreign Citizens. The supreme commander of the armed forces is the president of the country. Actually, the armed forces that are part of the structure of the Ministry of Defense consist of the Ground Forces, Air Force and Air Defense, the Navy, as well as specialized production and service units employed in the civilian sector of the economy (they are led by the special units of the General Staff). The total number of armed forces as of 2007 is estimated at 26 thousand people, and taking into account production and service units - up to 50 thousand. In military and administrative terms, the territory of Turkmenistan is divided into 5 military districts in accordance with the administrative division of the country into velayats of the same name - Akhal (center-Ashgabat), Balkan (Balkanabad), Dashoguz (Dashoguz), Lebap (Turkmenabat) and Mary (Mary). According to the US CIA, the number of human military resources (men aged 15-49 years) in Turkmenistan is about 1.3 million people, of which about 1 million are fit for military service. Every year about 56,000 men reach military age (18). The duration of compulsory military service on conscription is 2 years, with the exception of the Navy, where the term of service is set at 2.5 years. Persons with higher education serve 1.5 years (previously this period was set for all conscripts). The institute of contract military service in Turkmenistan was abolished in 2001, but it is legally established that conscripts, at their request, can do military service not from 18, but from 17 years old. The upper level of military age is 30 years (higher only in Azerbaijan). The training of officers of the Armed Forces is carried out at the Ashgabat Military Institute, and the military departments and faculties that previously existed at civilian universities have been closed in order to increase the annual recruitment of conscripts. In addition, some officers are trained in military schools in Turkey, Ukraine, Russia and Pakistan. The United States also provides some support in this regard. Turkmenistan buys weapons and military equipment in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Belarus and Ukraine (this is due to the increase in the number of tanks in comparison with the Soviet "legacy"). In Georgia, Turkmen Su-25 attack aircraft were repaired at the Tbilisi Aviation Plant. 2. Ground Forces The number of ground troops as of 2007 was estimated in various sources at 21-25 thousand people. Currently, the process of their reformation is being carried out with the transition from the traditional Soviet divisional-regimental structure to the brigade, and the SV as a whole have a mixed divisional-brigade structure. Most of the formations are personnel, they are fully staffed only during mobilization. Each MSD consists of a tank, 3 motorized rifle, artillery and anti-aircraft artillery regiments, combat support and maintenance units, and a brigade - from the corresponding battalions and divisions. The ground forces include: -2nd training MSD named after Alp-Arslan (former Soviet 61st training MSD; Tejen); 3rd MSD named after Bairam Khan - is considered an elite formation and can be maintained in a state close to deployed (former Soviet 84th MSD; Ashgabat); - 11th (according to other sources 357th) MSD named after Sultan Sanjar (former Soviet 88th MSD; Kushka, officially - Serhetabat); - 22nd MSD named after Atamurat Niyazov (former Soviet 58th MSD; Kizyl-Arvat - officially Serdar); - 4th MSB named after Togrul-beg; - 5th SME named after Chagry-beg; - 6th MSB named after Gerogly-beg; - 152nd Air Assault Brigade (Mary); - ? -I missile brigade - possibly disbanded (operational-tactical missile system 9K72); - ?-I artillery brigade (152-mm howitzers 2A65 "Meta-B"; Ashgabat); - ?-th rocket artillery regiment (220-mm 16-barrel MLRS 9P140 "Hurricane"; Ashgabat); - 2 anti-aircraft missile air defense brigades of the ground forces - ?-th engineer-sapper regiment (Ashgabat); -? th Special Forces Paratrooper Battalion (Ashgabat); - central military training ground (Kelat). The ground forces are armed with (as of 2007): main tanks T-72 - 702 (according to other sources 808); BMP-1 and BMP-2 - 855-930 (approximately equal); BRM-1K - 12; BTR-60, BTR-70 and BTR-80 - 829; BRDM-2 -170; launchers for the operational-tactical missile system 9K72 - 27 (according to some reports, 12 launchers were returned to Russia in 2002-03); 152-mm self-propelled howitzers 2G3 "Acacia" - 16; 122-mm self-propelled howitzers 2S1 "Carnation" - 40; 120-mm combined self-propelled guns (howitzers-mortars) 2S9 "Nona-S" - 17; 152-mm howitzers D-1 - 76; 152-mm howitzers 2A65 "Msta-B" - 72; 152-mm gun-howitzers D-20 - 20-72; 122-mm howitzers D-ZO -180; 220-mm 16-barrel MLRS 9P140 "Hurricane" - 54; 122-mm 40-barrel MLRS BM-21 "Grad" - 56; 122-mm 36-barrel MLRS 9P138 "Grad-1" - 9; 120-mm mortars PM-38, M-120 and (or) 2B11 (complex 2S12 "Sani") - 66; 82-mm mortars BM-37 and (or) 2B14-1 "Tray" - 31; 100-mm anti-tank guns T-12 and (or) MT-12 "Rapier" - 72; launchers for anti-tank missile systems of various types - at least 100; 73-mm mounted anti-tank grenade launchers SPG-9 "Spear" - ?; 40-mm anti-tank grenade launchers RPG-7 - 400; 23-mm quadruple ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" - 48; 57-mm anti-aircraft guns S-60 - 22; launchers for self-propelled short-range air defense systems "Osa" - 40; launchers for short-range self-propelled air defense systems "Strela-10" - 13; MANPADS "Strela-2" - 300. 3. Air Force and Air Defense Forces The number of Air Force and Air Defense Forces as of 2007 is estimated at 4.3 thousand people. In their composition, according to conflicting information in 2007-08, there are: - 99th air base (67th mixed air regiment; Mary-2): MiG-29 fighters, Su-17MZ fighter-bombers, possibly Su- 25; - 55th Fighter Aviation Regiment (Nebit-Dag, officially - Balakanabad) - possibly disbanded: MiG-23M fighters - non-combat-ready; - 107th Fighter Aviation Regiment (Aktepe, near Ashgabat): MiG-23M fighter-interceptors, MiG-25PD fighter-interceptors, Su-25 attack aircraft - the last two types, most likely not combat-ready; - 47th separate mixed aviation squadron (Aktepe): An-24 and An-26 light military transport aircraft, Mi-24 combat helicopters, Mi-8 medium transport and combat helicopters; - 31st separate mixed aviation squadron (Chardzhou - officially Turkmenabad) - existence is in question: MiG-21 fighters, Su-7B fighter-bombers, Yak-28P interceptor fighters, JI-39 Albatros training aircraft, medium military transport aircraft An-12 - most likely, all non-combat-ready; -56th aircraft storage base (Kizyl-Arvat): MiG-23 fighters and Su-17 fighter-bombers; - training center: Su-7B fighter-bombers and L-39 "Albatross" training aircrafts, /13th zrp, Kurtli and Turkmenbashi - former Krasnovodsk): long-range (S-200), medium (S-75) and short-range (S-125) air defense systems; > - ? -I anti-aircraft missile brigade - presumably (possibly armed with an army self-propelled medium-range air defense system "Krug"); -2nd radio engineering brigade (2960 people, 129 RSL of various types, scattered throughout the country). The air fleet of the Air Force and Air Defense Forces includes the following vehicles: MiG-29 fighters - 22; combat training aircraft MiG-29UB - 2; fighter-interceptors MiG-23M - 230 (including combat training aircraft MiG-23UB); MiG-21 fighters - 3; fighter-interceptors MiG-25PD - 24; * fighter-interceptors Yak-28P ^ ?; Su-17M-^65 fighter-bombers (including Su-17UM combat training aircraft); fighter-bombers Su-7B - 3; attack aircraft Su-25 - 46 (including combat training Su-25UB); ‘JI-39 Albatros training aircraft - 2; medium military transport aircraft An-12 - ?; N light military transport aircraft An-24 - 1; light military transport aircraft An-26 - 10; light military transport aircraft An-2 - 10; “v combat helicopters Mi-24-g-10; Mi-8-20 medium transport-combat and airborne transport helicopters. According to experts, at best, nominally 24 MiG-29 / 29UB are in service (their repairs are carried out in Ukraine at the Lvov Aircraft Repair Plant), up to 50 MiG-23M , 65 Su-17M/UM, 3 Su-7B, some Su-25, 2 L-39, 1 An-26, 10 Mi-24 and 8 MiG-8. The rest of the machines are in storage, with no prospect of use. The number of pilots capable of performing combat missions in full is estimated at 10-15 people. With the technical assistance of Ukraine, the service life of guided air-to-air missiles for fighter aircraft is being extended. The number of launchers for long-range (S-200), medium (S-75) and short-range (S-125) air defense systems is estimated at about 100 units, of which about 30 are considered to be actually combat-ready. intelligence "Kolchuga" supplied by Ukraine. The Air Force reserve is the civil aviation of Turkmenistan. In the national airline "Turkmenistan Airlines" (Turkmenistan Airlines), filed in 2006, there were 30 aircraft: 4 passenger An-24RV, 7 - Boeing-717-200, 3 - Boeing-737-300, 4 - Boeing-757-200 , 1 - Boeing-767-300EYA, 7 - Yak-40 and 4 cargo aircraft IL-76TD, which can be used for the transportation and landing landing of military equipment. 4. Naval Forces The maritime component of the national history of the Turkmens is reduced mainly to their primitive fishing in the Caspian Sea, for which representatives of this people used taimuns hollowed out of wood. In the late 1930s a group of Turkmen fishermen, in order to prove the seaworthiness of the Taimuns and their great love for Comrade Stalin, made a great voyage, first along the stormy Caspian Sea, then along the Volga and the canal to them. Moscow to the Kremlin. So they still have some maritime traditions. In the post-war period, the following multi-departmental naval structures of the USSR were deployed in Turkmenistan: - 228th brigade of ships for protecting the water area of the Caspian flotilla (patrol boat pr. 205M, patrol boat pr. 14081, base minesweeper pr. 1252 and two hovercraft - probably, air assault pr. 1205; base point - the port of Krasnovodsk); 46th separate division of border patrol ships and boats of the Central Asian border district of the KGB of the USSR (4-5 patrol boats, project 1400; base point - the port of Krasnovodsk); - a detachment of river border boats of the Central Asian border district of the KGB of the USSR on the Amu Darya River (border with Afghanistan, base point - the village of Kelif) - perhaps a similar detachment was on the Atrek River (border with Iran); separate training coastal missile division of the Caspian flotilla (Jafar village) mixed Russian-Turkmen crews. Russian officers of the former Navy of the USSR also served on the ships of the Navy of Turkmenistan (their first commander was Captain 1st Rank Valerian Repin). At present, the Turkmen Navy (the only naval base is the port of Turkmenbashi, formerly Krasnovodsk) is under operational control of the command of the country's border troops. Estimates of the number of their personnel in different sources vary greatly: in some - 125 people, in others - 700 (as of 2007), in some - yes, 2000 and even 3000. The ship composition of the Navy is represented by 16 patrol boats: 10 type " Vulture" (pr. 1400 and 1400M, former Soviet and Ukrainian delivery); one - type "Point" (РВ129 "Mergen" - former "Point Jackson", transferred from the US Coast Guard); one of the Saigak type (project 14081, former Soviet), four of the Kalkan-M type (Ukrainian delivery; perhaps there are more of them already). There is a former Soviet basic minesweeper of the Korund type (Project 1252). Presumably, all of them were brought together in a brigade of ships for the protection of the water area. The number of boats of the "Grif" type is planned to be increased to 20 units through the acquisition of their improved version "Grif-T" ("Condor"), and of the "Kalkan-M" type - up to 10 (the others are built and supplied by Ukraine). There is information about the lease of some patrol boats by Iran, but the details of this are not known. The completely absurd information that sometimes appears in the press about the lease of an Iranian destroyer by the Turkmens should be attributed to the blatant incompetence of the "writers" who disseminate it. In the Turkmen merchant fleet in 2003, according to the US CIA, in addition to a few small things, there were only 2 large vessels - a tanker and an oil ore carrier with a total displacement of 6873 gross tons. 5. Production and service formations The number of personnel of the production and service formations of the Armed Forces of Turkmenistan is estimated at no less than 20 thousand people. They work in various industries and agriculture of the country and, in addition, are involved in the performance of the functions of employees of the state automobile inspection, firefighters, bank, postal, telegraph, orderlies in hospitals, etc. 6. Other military (paramilitary) formations and special services Ministry of Internal Affairs - the number of personnel is estimated at 27 thousand people (including internal troops). \h The National Security Committee (KNB) (estimated number of 2.5-4 thousand people) is the main intelligence service of the country. The State Border Service has about 12 thousand personnel. The border troops include 8 border detachments, including Bekdashsky, Kushkinsky, Kerkinsky and Koytendagsky. The protection of the maritime border under the operational leadership of the State Border Service is carried out by the country's Navy (see above). In addition, six small border boats of the Aist type (project 1398, former Soviet ones) are used on the Amu Darya River (base point Kelif). 7. The Security Service of the President of Turkmenistan has, according to various estimates, from 1 to 2 thousand people. **** What is the building in photo #2 and where is it located?
Turkmenistan is a small Asian state, which is located in a mountainous area. The armed forces today are relatively small, numbering approximately 200 thousand people, mostly ground forces.
Before the establishment of Soviet power, as such, Turkmenistan did not have regular units. Basically, these were large detachments led by field commanders. However, in the 20s of the last century, these formations quite successfully resisted the troops of the Red Army. The mountainous terrain and the good training of the fighters contributed to this. After the defeat, the Turkestan military district was formed by the Soviet government, which lasted until 1991.
When the Soviet Union collapsed, Turkmenistan got "mountains" of weapons and equipment, on the basis of which the army of Turkmenistan was formed.
It included the following divisions:
- 36 Army Land Corps;
- 58, 84, 88, 61, 156, 217 fighter-bomber regiments;
- 12 separate air defense army and 64 reconnaissance regiment.
Navy of Turkmenistan
History does not speak of any major sea campaigns of this country. The main occupation of the people living in the Caspian was fishing.
Only once. in order to show love for Stalin and at the same time check the seaworthiness of their ships, a trip was made across the entire Caspian, then along the Volga, the canal named after. Moscow to the Kremlin. That's the whole trip. After the war, the 226th brigade of warships, a patrol boat, a minesweeper and two hovercraft were deployed in the Caspian. I would especially like to note the missile training center, which existed until 1999. At present, the only base in the Caspian is the port of Turkmenbashi. The number of personnel together with service personnel for 2003 is approximately 700 people. Also 16 boats of the "vulture" type, four - "Kalkan" and a Soviet-built minesweeper "Korund". Judging by military parades, Turkmenistan has a marine brigade, but it does not have amphibious assault vehicles, so it most likely falls into the category of troops guarding the coast. According to the CIA, Turkmenistan has no large military courts.
Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkmenistan
The internal troops number about 27,000 people. Their "think tank" is the KNB. It performs the security functions of the first persons of the state and carries out repressions against dissidents. With the help of this structure, schemes were developed for supplying weapons to the Taliban bandits and "freedom fighters" in South Yemen.But even this special service was often repressed by high-ranking officials. The dictatorship sees danger to itself everywhere.
Presidential Guard 
has 2000 people.
Border troops
Until 1999, the 135th, 67th, 71st and 45th divisions of the border troops were located in Turkmenistan. The service was carried out by Russian and Turkmen border guards. Then, at the request of the Turkmen leadership, the Russians left this country. Many experts are sure that the leadership wants to personally control drug trafficking in this region.
To date, the situation has not changed. The border is very poorly guarded, Ashgabat is more concerned about internal threats than external ones.
air force
Today, there is no aviation as a kind of troops in Turkmenistan. There are several Soviet-built aircraft. The lack of experienced pilots from Russia made it impossible to competently operate complex military equipment. Even at military parades, planes are piloted by Ukrainian pilots.Ground troops
The most numerous branch of the army - 25 thousand people. Today, this type of troops is in the process of reform (from the divisional-regimental structure to the brigade).Each brigade includes 1 tank unit, 3 motorized rifle units, one artillery and anti-aircraft regiment. Armament is predominantly Soviet-style. Some models of equipment, as well as spare parts are bought in Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Belarus. Most of the equipment is out of order and needs to be overhauled.
The army of Turkmenistan today has a very low combat readiness. The division by clan and religious affiliation caused a drain from the army of specialists. Many soldiers are not engaged in combat training, but in work in the national economy of the country. This fact is recognized even by the leaders of Turkmenistan.
Video: Military parade in Ashgabat
Arms market of Turkmenistan: realities and prospects
The economic growth of recent years has allowed Turkmenistan to start allocating certain funds for the modernization and renewal of the material part of its Armed Forces
Andrey BYKOV
The first president was Saparmurat Niyazov (first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Turkmen SSR in 1985-1991), who established a moderately authoritarian regime that ensured long-term stability. On the one hand, the smallest population in the region (5.05 million people), scattered over a large territory and concentrated in border regions with an almost deserted center of the country, occupied by the Karakum desert, had a decisive influence on the formation of the foreign and domestic policy of Turkmenistan; on the other hand, significant reserves of hydrocarbons.
As an integral part of the national economic complex of the USSR, the economy of Turkmenistan was distinguished by a pronounced raw material orientation. On the other hand, it is characterized by a certain "simplicity" in comparison with the resource-based economies of the other two most developed republics of Soviet Central Asia - Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which had significantly more economic ties both among themselves and with other republics of the USSR. The country traditionally occupied one of the leading places in terms of raw cotton production. With the discovery in the post-war period of rich hydrocarbon deposits - natural gas in the Amu Darya basin, and to a lesser extent - oil on the shelf of the Caspian Sea, the foundations were laid for the industrial development of the fuel and energy complex. Historically, Turkmen gas, once integrated into the unified gas pipeline system of the USSR, was used primarily to cover a significant part of Ukraine's fuel and energy balance. All Turkmen gas, with the exception of relatively small volumes intended for domestic consumption, entered the all-Union network through the Central Asia-Center pipeline system. This network connects the gas-producing regions of the country through the territories of neighboring Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan with the central regions of Russia, connecting to a network of pipelines leading to Ukraine with a possible exit to Europe.
In the 1990s The country's political elite, led by Saparmurat Niyazov, under the auspices of the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan (DPT), managed to maintain stability and control over the economy, abandoning market reforms. This became possible thanks to strict price regulation and the creation of a system of free distribution of gas and electricity among the country's inhabitants.
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Saparmurat Niyazov, the first president of Turkmenistan. |
The DPT was founded on December 16, 1991. The party became the legal successor of the Communist Party of the Turkmen SSR and until 2013 was the only political party in the country. Given the concentration of financial resources in the fuel and energy complex, the president and his inner circle played a key role in redistributing gas rent within the economic system and creating various institutions of the young state from scratch. The main instrument of foreign policy has become the concept of "positive neutrality", which provides for non-participation not only in military alliances, but also in any "interstate alliances with strict regulatory functions or implying collective responsibility." No less important, although doctrinally incompatible with neutrality, a feature of the country's foreign policy was the de facto maintained military alliance with Russia.
The neutral status provided the Republic of Tatarstan with significant freedom of foreign policy maneuver, which made it possible to focus on organizing the transit and marketing of hydrocarbons, protected the ruling regime from outside interference, and also made it possible not to bear the costs of foreign policy activities. The country abstained from participating in the Tajik settlement, established trade and economic relations with Iran, maintained close political and economic relations with the Rabbani government and with the Taliban movement. At the same time, until the beginning of 1994, the Armed Forces of Turkmenistan were under the joint Russian-Turkmen command, and the country's borders with Iran and Afghanistan until the end of 1999 were protected by Russian border guards.
By the end of the 1990s. Ashgabat began to interpret neutrality as self-isolation. Foreign contacts of the country's leadership were reduced to a minimum, the country fenced itself off from international cooperation and introduced in 1999 a visa regime with the CIS countries. Relations with Russia became more tense due to the fact that since the end of 1993, Gazprom stopped allocating a quota for exports to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe to the Republic of Tatarstan, redirecting Turkmen gas to low-paying consumers - Ukraine and the states of the Transcaucasus. A dispute with Azerbaijan over the ownership of the Serdar (Kyapaz) gas field and disagreements over the distribution of quotas for gas transportation through the projected trans-Caspian pipeline predetermined tension along the Ashgabat-Baku line. In the last years of Niyazov's rule, the search for opportunities to diversify gas export directions focused on two routes: trans-Afghan and Chinese. The trans-Afghan option, despite the signing in May 2002 of an agreement on project support by Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, has not overcome the difficulties associated with finding investors for expensive and extremely risky construction. The Chinese direction turned out to be much more promising: during Saparmurat Niyazov's visit to Beijing, an agreement was signed on the construction of the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline and the export of 30 billion cubic meters of gas per year to China since 2009.
After the death of Saparmurat Niyazov in December 2006, Minister of Health Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov took over the leadership of Turkmenistan. The president of the republic still has unprecedented powers in his hands: he combines the posts of head of state, prime minister, supreme commander of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Tajikistan and chairman of the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan. The presidential elections of 2007 and 2012, which were conflict-free and controlled, served as a factor in the international legitimization of the regime.
Established in the 1990s the DPT-dominated regime is undergoing a gradual transformation from a moderately authoritarian regime with elements of the personality cult of the first president to bureaucratic state capitalism with a special position of the special services, as well as the top management of the oil and gas industry in the decision-making system in the economy. In addition, the institutional design of the political system will be modified due to the inevitable change of generations in the state apparatus in the medium term.
CHALLENGES TO SECURITY
Security challenges for Turkmenistan can be divided into two groups: external and internal.
The economy's dependence on hydrocarbon exports remains a key domestic problem. The country is characterized by a social environment deformed by growing inequality, suffering from an influx of enclave and focal distribution of economic benefits. The majority of the population is not included in the economic relations associated with the extraction of resource rent from the export of hydrocarbons. In the event of a shock drop in energy prices, the existing social contradictions will inevitably become actual and will inevitably develop into an inter-clan or inter-tribal conflict.
On the outside, one of the main threats is Afghanistan. Attacks on Turkmen border posts throughout the winter, spring and summer of 2014 stand in stark contrast to the calm on the Afghan-Turkmen border under President Niyazov. In a number of media, these events are considered in connection with ISIS. The pessimistic scenario points to the preparation of operational corridors for a breakthrough through the Afghan-Turkmen border. Considering the experience of contacts of the Turkmen special services with the Pashtun Taliban movement (and contacts with the official government of Afghanistan), these attacks can be linked to a number of radical Salafi groups that may be targeted at Qatar, which has recently shown interest in the region.
Traditionally, Tajikistan has had difficult relations with Azerbaijan due to the status of the Caspian Sea and disagreements over the distribution of quotas for gas transportation through the projected trans-Caspian pipeline. Relations between the two countries improved somewhat during the presidency of Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. In August 2010, deliveries of Turkmen oil began through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, Turkmen oil is delivered to Baku by tankers. However, the delimitation of spheres of influence in the Caspian will continue to negatively affect relations between the two countries in the coming years.
The country has complicated relations with Uzbekistan, which has recently been called the powder keg of Central Asia by a number of experts. The terrorist organization Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan poses a potential threat.
MILITARY DOCTRINE
The Turkmen authorities took the path of forming a small but combat-ready army, "sufficient to protect state integrity and national sovereignty from possible aggression." Of course, the Turkmen government was not able to manage on its own when creating a national armed forces. In July 1992, Russia and Turkmenistan signed an agreement on joint actions in the field of defense. In accordance with this document, Russia acted as a guarantor of the security of Turkmenistan and transferred the units of the former Soviet Army stationed on Turkmen territory to form the national Armed Forces. The agreement specified that in addition to the units and subdivisions of the Border Troops, Air Force and Air Defense, which remain under Russian command, all other military formations will come under unified command with the gradual transfer of leadership to the Turkmen side within 10 years. During this transitional period, Russia was obliged to provide military-technical and operational-tactical support, as well as to pay compensation to the Turkmen side for the right to deploy its equipment on its territory, while Turkmenistan assumed the costs of maintaining and providing units of joint subordination.
On March 25, 1994, the military doctrine of Turkmenistan was promulgated, which determined the main directions of the military construction of an independent state for the subsequent period. Conceptually, the doctrine proceeds from the principles of "positive neutrality", and the main military danger to the country is represented by possible local wars and armed conflicts in neighboring states. In the field of ensuring the military security of the republic, three main areas can be distinguished: the Caspian, Afghan and Uzbek.
In April 1994, the reorganization of the military structure was announced: the Ministry of Defense of Turkmenistan began to take control of the formations and units of the Air Defense Forces and the Air Force from the RF Armed Forces stationed in the country. However, for some time Russian specialists took part in maintaining the combat effectiveness of air defense on the territory of the republic.
The recruitment of the Turkmen Armed Forces by conscripts takes place according to the extraterritorial principle. To avoid imbalance, recruits from one area are sent to districts where the vast majority of the population belongs to other tribal groups. The Turkmen army, unlike many developing countries, is spared from police functions, does not conduct and does not intend to conduct hostilities inside the country. At the same time, the army itself can pose, at least potentially, a threat to the ruling regime. The means of preventing such a threat are quite traditional: rotation of top management and territorial rotation, i.e. the area of service is as far as possible from the place of birth or conscription.
In 2008, a new version of the military doctrine was adopted, a key element of which is to improve the living conditions and material well-being of military personnel and their families. In August 2009, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov signed a law on the status and social protection of servicemen and members of their families.
MILITARY EXPENDITURE
Turkmenistan has the third military budget in absolute terms among the countries of Central Asia (after Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan). Military spending is on the rise. If in 2004 they amounted to $165 million, then in 2011 they increased to $210 million, which amounted to 0.3% of the republic's GDP. Spending on the country's intelligence services amounted to about $70 million in 2012. The influx of proceeds from gas contracts with China made it possible to start purchasing new weapons and military equipment in Russia and Turkey.
ARMED FORCES AND STATE BORDER SERVICE
Based on the areas of application, the Armed Forces of the Republic of Turkmenistan are characterized by a three-service structure: Ground Forces, Air Force and Air Defense Forces, and Naval Forces. The transition of the Armed Forces to a brigade manning basis has not been completed, the troops retain a mixed structure. As a rule, divisions (brigades) are not fully staffed (mainly by security and service forces) and, in terms of their functions, are close to mobilization points and weapons depots.
The direct leadership of the Armed Forces is carried out by the General Staff of the Ministry of Defense, to which the commanders of the military districts are subordinate.
The strength of the regular army in 2013 was 22,000 servicemen, including 17,000 in the Ground Forces, 3,000 in the Air Force and Air Defense Forces, and up to 2,000 in the Navy.
As already noted, the country's Armed Forces were formed on the basis of a very large grouping of troops of the Soviet Turkestan district that came under the jurisdiction of the republic. Therefore, on the one hand, the Turkmen army did not experience a shortage of materiel, on the other hand, it faced a chronic shortage of officers and technical specialists, since, unlike the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the KNB, it did not have the opportunity to use Soviet specialists. The practice of widely involving personnel of the Armed Forces in work in the national economy also had a negative impact on their combat capability.
The State Border Service was formed with the participation of Russian specialists, the starting point was the agreement of August 27, 1992, according to which it was decided to create the border troops of Turkmenistan on the basis of formations and units of the Soviet Central Asian border district. The coordination of the activities of the troops was entrusted to the joint command of the Border Troops. On December 23, 1993, an interstate agreement was concluded, which became the basis for the joint protection of external borders. In March 1994, an operational group of the Federal Border Service was formed, numbering more than 3 thousand people. The last detachments of Russian border guards were withdrawn in 1999. Now the border service of the Republic of Tatarstan has about 12 thousand people. Its effectiveness remains extremely limited, including in comparison with other states of Central Asia.
GROUND TROOPS
The territory of the country is currently divided into five military districts. The Land Forces of Turkmenistan include four motorized rifle divisions (one training), two motorized rifle brigades, an air assault battalion, one artillery brigade, one missile brigade, two air defense brigades, a regiment of multiple launch rocket systems, an anti-tank artillery regiment, an engineering and engineer regiment.
The Ground Forces are armed with 10 T-90S tanks; 670 T-72 tanks; 170 armored vehicles BRDM-1 and BRDM-2; 930 infantry fighting vehicles BMP-1 and BMP-2; 12 BRM; 820 armored personnel carriers BTR-60, BTR-70 and BTR-80; 40 122-mm self-propelled guns 2S1 "Carnation"; 16 152-mm self-propelled guns 2S3 "Acacia"; 180 122-mm D-30 towed howitzers; 17 152-mm D-1 towed howitzers; 72 152 mm D-20 towed howitzers; 17 SAO 2S9 "Nona-S"; 56 MLRS BM-21 "Grad"; 9 MLRS 9P138 "Grad-1"; 60 MLRS 9R140 "Hurricane"; 6 MLRS VM9A52 "Smerch"; 40 SAM 9K33 "Wasp"; 13 SAM 9K35 "Strela-10"; 10 OTRK 9K72 "Elbrus"; 48 ZSU-23-4 "Shilka"; 22 57 mm S-60 anti-aircraft guns.
AIR FORCE AND AIR DEFENSE TROOPS
This structure is considered one of the most combat-ready in the Armed Forces of the country. Its further development is connected with the strengthening of the bases in Ashgabat and Mary. The development of aviation should ensure reliable protection of the country's energy interests in the Caspian. Aviation is used to patrol the sea, compensating for the insufficient power of the fleet. The Air Force and Air Defense Forces include three aviation regiments, an anti-aircraft missile brigade, three anti-aircraft missile regiments, and two separate radio engineering brigades.
The Air Force of Turkmenistan has 24 MiG-29 multirole fighters; 43 Su-25 attack aircraft; one An-26 light transport aircraft. The Army Aviation has 10 Mi-24 attack helicopters and eight Mi-8 transport and combat helicopters. The air defense forces are armed with S-75, S-125 and S-200 anti-aircraft missile systems.
The main problem of the Air Force and Air Defense Forces is the lack of specialists. There are no open data on the average flight time per year, but according to SIPRI, it is one of the lowest in the CIS.
NAVAL FORCES
The country's leadership pays increased attention to the development of the Navy. The key task of the Navy is to protect and ensure the inviolability of the border and economic interests of Turkmenistan, due to the unresolved legal status in the Caspian Sea, and the need to protect the emerging national drilling fleet. The Navy of Turkmenistan received an independent status in 2010. Their headquarters is located in Turkmenbashi (former Krasnovodsk).
Despite the attention of the country's leadership, the Turkmen fleet remains one of the weakest in the Caspian. The Navy of Turkmenistan is represented by missile and patrol boats. Two Project 12418 Molniya missile boats, designed by the Almaz Central Design Bureau, entered service in 2011-2012. Two Tuzla-class patrol ships, developed by the Turkish company Dearsan Shipyard, were put into service in 2013. In addition, the Navy includes 10 Grif-type patrol boats (projects 1400 and 1400M) of Soviet and Ukrainian construction, a boat of project 14081 Saigak from the USSR maritime border forces, one Point-class boat handed over by the US Coast Guard, several Kalkan-M-class boats built in Ukraine, and a project 1252 Korund minesweeper.
The Navy also includes a battalion of marines.
PURCHASING POLICY
Since the collapse of the USSR, Turkmenistan has pursued a neutral course, equally distancing itself from Russia and seeking to minimize any external influence on its internal affairs by the United States, as well as the leading EU countries. Russian specialists played an important role in the creation of the Armed Forces and the State Border Service of Turkmenistan. The Turkmen Armed Forces and special services did not experience a shortage of materiel, using excess amounts of weapons and military equipment inherited from the USSR Armed Forces. Scarce components for air defense systems were supplied from Russia.
As already mentioned, the “gas issue” had a negative impact on the military-political and military-technical relations between Russia and Turkmenistan: in October 1993, the Gazprom concern finally closed the access of Turkmen gas to pipeline networks for exporting gas to Europe. The main consumers of Turkmen gas were Ukraine and the states of Transcaucasia, which, in the conditions of transition to the world level of prices in convertible currency, were chronically insolvent. Under these conditions, Ukraine becomes the main military-technical partner of Turkmenistan. On account of Ukraine's debt, a contract was signed for the construction of 20 Kalkan-class patrol boats for the State Border Guard Service of Turkmenistan, but due to financial disagreements, only eight of them were actually built. Acquired three radio intelligence stations "Kolchuga-M". For the Air Force, 10 MiG-29 fighters were repaired in 2000-2003. Georgia became the second partner in the field of military-technical cooperation: the Tbilisi Aviation Plant (TAM, Tbilaviamsheni) repaired Su-25 attack aircraft, bought one Su-25KM modernized with Israeli help and six Su-25UB. These works were also carried out on account of debts. However, since 2011, Turkmen Su-25s have been serviced at aircraft repair plant No. 121 in Kubinka, probably due to the inability of TAM to carry out repairs due to the breakdown of cooperation ties with Russian suppliers.
In recent years, Turkmenistan has stepped up its arms purchases, expanding the scale of military-technical cooperation with Russia and Turkey.
In 2009, a contract was signed with Rosoboronexport for the supply of 10 T-90S tanks worth $16 million; deliveries were made in 2009-2010. At the same time, Turkmenistan purchased at least eight BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles, more than a thousand KamAZ trucks worth about $100 million, six Smerch MLRS of 300 mm caliber for $70 million. In addition, in 2010 the contract was completed for the supply of two Mi-17-1V helicopters worth $22 million. For the Navy of Turkmenistan, the Sredne-Nevsky Shipbuilding Plant manufactured two project 12418 Molniya missile boats worth $170 million, handed over to the customer in 2011.
In 2010, Turkmenistan purchased two Dearsan Shipyard-designed Tuzla-class patrol ships from Turkey, with an option for six more boats. An agreement on military cooperation between Turkey and Turkmenistan was signed at the turn of 1990-2000, but did not develop.
Supplies of military equipment to Turkmenistan are also carried out by Belarusian enterprises. The Russian-Belarusian company "Defense Systems" completed work on upgrading the S-125 air defense system to the level of "Pechora-2M" under a contract dated 2009. In addition, Turkmenistan became the first customer for the self-propelled anti-tank missile system "Karakal", developed by "Beltechexport" and equipped with Ukrainian missiles "Barrier" developed by the Kiev design bureau "Luch".
In August 2014, information appeared on a tender for the purchase of an electronic tracking system for the Turkmen-Afghan border, the length of which is about 700 km. The French company Thales and the German Airbus Defense & Space are taking part in the tender. Thales is considered as the favorite, its offer is technically better. In addition, the German export control system may not approve the contract, as has repeatedly happened with Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, etc. It is also important to note that Thales has experience in Turkmenistan: it acted as the main contractor for the creation of an air traffic control system at the Ashgabat airport.
Thus, the economic growth of recent years has allowed Turkmenistan to start allocating certain funds for the modernization and renewal of the material part of its Armed Forces, including the purchase of weapons and military equipment. Purchases reflect the vision of the military-political leadership of the country on threats: ensuring the economic interests of Turkmenistan in the Caspian Sea, strengthening and ensuring the inviolability of the border with Afghanistan. The Uzbek direction is not a priority at present.
The intensification of relations between Russia and Turkmenistan in the field of military and military-technical cooperation is impossible without solving problems between the countries in the field of hydrocarbon sales. In recent years, China, having built gas pipelines from Turkmenistan at its own expense and allocating loans for the development of new gas fields, has become the largest consumer of Turkmen gas and, having set a rather low price for it, does not give new loans. The position of the Turkmen authorities will become even more complicated in the light of the signing of the Russian-Chinese agreement on the supply of Russian gas to China. On the other hand, Iran, another consumer of Turkmen gas, is cutting back on purchases and may abandon them altogether. Russia is also reducing purchases of Turkmen gas (the south of the country is now provided with Russian gas), so without reasonable discounts from Turkmenistan that correspond to the real state of affairs in the market, the latter may lose it as a partner. Ashgabat can become a strategic partner of Russia in the gas pipeline to Turkey, which will replace the South Stream. In this case, Gazprom would automatically withdraw from the EU's Third Energy Package, and Turkmenistan would gain access to the European market. However, neither Moscow nor Ashgabat is satisfied with this yet: the former is not ready for partnership without discounts, the latter does not want to provide them.
On the other hand, the issues of strengthening and ensuring the inviolability of the border with Afghanistan, the fight against drug trafficking affect the security of not only Turkmenistan, but also Russia and Kazakhstan. When resolving issues with hydrocarbons, the activation of military and military-technical cooperation between Russia and Turkmenistan is possible. Under these conditions, Russian-made helicopters, Tigr armored vehicles, heavy flamethrower systems TOS-1 will be of interest to Turkmenistan. The Air Force may be offered a combat training aircraft Yak-130. In the field of naval technology, Turkmenistan can continue to purchase boats of project 12418 "Lightning", theoretically, patrol boats of project 20970 "Katran" can be offered to it. An important aspect of cooperation should be joint exercises (including with Kazakhstan), since the isolationist policy pursued so far has a negative impact on the country's Armed Forces.
The Ukrainian niche in the Turkmen market can be occupied by Belarus, the trade turnover between the countries has been growing rapidly in recent years. In addition, Belarus has experience in the markets of Central Asian countries, for example, Belarusian enterprises have successfully modernized fighter jets of the Air Defense Forces of Kazakhstan.
It is potentially possible that the products of Chinese defense industry enterprises will appear on the arms market of Turkmenistan and other Central Asian republics. The PRC is actively lending to the economies of these countries, which makes it possible to supply military products on extremely favorable terms. This possibility is confirmed by recent reports on the supply of Chinese HQ-9 air defense systems to Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Turkmenistan is a closed country, and there is no reliable information about the current state of its armed forces. But since the combat effectiveness of the army depends on the level of economic development, it can be assumed that the country's defense capability has been declining in recent years. Could this lead to the infiltration of fighters of terrorist organizations from Afghanistan into the territory of Turkmenistan? And will Ashgabat be able to counter this threat alone?
*** Over the past year, as the Islamic State (prohibited terrorist organization "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant", ISIS, IS, ISIS or IS English, Daesh Arabic, DAISH) lost its positions in Syria and Iraq, the builders of the world caliphate increased their activity in Afghanistan. Back in the summer, the US military reported the elimination of three ISIS field commanders in this country, and later the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the transfer of the organization’s fighters to Afghanistan using unmarked light helicopters. At the same time, the decrease in the defense capability of Turkmenistan, neighboring Afghanistan, which began, according to various sources, in the first half of the 2010s, may lead to the gradual penetration of a terrorist organization into the territory of this post-Soviet republic. And Ashgabat's close friendly relations with the Afghan authorities can only simplify and speed up this process.
Turkmenistan is a closed country, and there is no reliable information about the current state of its armed forces. For several years after gaining independence, the authorities of the republic openly published data on military spending, but in 1999 they stopped doing this. According to the CIA World Factbook, in 2016 the GDP of Turkmenistan amounted to $95.5 billion. At the same time, according to the Nation Master portal, in 2011 Turkmenistan's military spending amounted to 1.6 percent of GDP. Assuming that this figure has not decreased since then, the country spent about $1.5 billion on the military last year. In reality, the development of the country's economy since 2014, when prices for hydrocarbons, the main item of Turkmen exports, have fallen, has been constantly slowed down, state budget revenues are declining, which also affects the armed forces.
Today, in Turkmenistan, men aged 18 to 27 are called up for service, and, upon written request, they can be recruited into the army from the age of 17. You can enter military training in Turkmenistan from the age of 15. According to various estimates, annually in this country, the draft age reaches an average of 53 thousand people. At the same time, clan contradictions are strong in the republic, which is why conscripts in the vast majority of cases are sent to serve in areas other than those from which they were called. This is believed to reduce the number of desertions.
The armed forces of Turkmenistan include three types of troops: the Ground Forces, the Air Force and the Navy, the total number of personnel of which does not exceed 40 thousand people. In 2016, the country's authorities adopted the latest military doctrine confirming the status of Turkmenistan as a neutral state (approved by the UN in 1995), reserving the right to use armed forces only to prevent internal conflicts, suppress separatist movements and extremism, and combat countries that circulate weapons of mass destruction and means of its delivery, which may pose a threat to Turkmen national security.
According to various sources, Turkmenistan is armed with ten T-90S and 670 T-72 tanks, 170 combat reconnaissance and sabotage vehicles BRDM-1 and BRDM-2, 930 infantry fighting vehicles BMP-1 and BMP-2, 829 armored personnel carriers BTR-60 , BTR-70 and BTR-80. In addition, the ground forces are armed with 40 self-propelled artillery mounts 2S1 Gvozdika, 16 2S3 Akatsiya, 17 2S9 Nona-S, 180 D-30 howitzers, 17 D-1 howitzers, 72 D-20 howitzers, about 70 PM-38 mortars and 31 Vasilek 2B9 mortars. The military and 128 multiple launch rocket systems "Grad", "Hurricane" and "Smerch" have.
The aircraft fleet of the Air Force of Turkmenistan is relatively small. It has only about 20 MiG-29/UB fighters, three Su-7B fighter-bombers, 65 Su-17 fighter-bombers, 43 Su-25MK attack aircraft (some of them underwent modernization in Georgia in the second half of the 2000s), one An-26 transport aircraft, two L-39 training aircraft, ten Mi-24 transport and combat helicopters and eight Mi-8 multi-purpose helicopters. The air defense systems of Turkmenistan are represented by fifty anti-aircraft missile systems S-75 "Dvina", S-125 "Pechora" and S-200 "Angara".
The Turkmen Navy is represented by the Caspian flotilla, operating as part of a joint Russian-Kazakh-Turkmen flotilla under formal Russian control (in the event of a local conflict, they may withdraw from the subordination of the Russian command), and a small river flotilla on the Amu Darya. The Turkmen Navy has five Grif-T patrol boats, two project 12418 Molniya missile boats and one Point Jackson patrol boat. In fact, the Turkmen fleet is the weakest in comparison with the fleets of other countries in the Caspian. Most of the weapons and military equipment of Turkmenistan was produced back in the USSR and since then has only undergone scheduled repairs. Nothing is known about the current state of the equipment adopted by the country.
Presumably, in the early 2010s, a crisis began to develop in the armed forces of Turkmenistan. This was primarily due to the increased requirements for conscripts. In particular, only men in whose family no one from the last three generations was brought to criminal responsibility could be called up to the Presidential Security Service, the State Migration Service and the Ministry of National Security. In those years, several military registration and enlistment offices in Turkmenistan complained that due to the demand, there was a shortage in these formations.
In 2013, the first reports began to appear that in the armed forces of Turkmenistan, soldiers stopped receiving regular allowances, which at that time at the real exchange rate was about $14. A year later, the Chronicle of Turkmenistan published one of the retired soldiers of the Turkmen army, in which he claimed that the employees were no longer given allowances. However, they still have to sign the statements in its receipt.
All this led to a deterioration in the moral situation in the troops: hazing and requisitions from the officers intensified. As a result, conscripts began to actively look for ways to get a deferment from military service, or even avoid conscription altogether. Cases of giving bribes to employees of military enlistment offices have become more frequent. According to various sources, in order to avoid military service, you need to pay from 300 to 500 dollars, depending on the conscription area. If you turn to the central military registration and enlistment office for help, then for 1600-1700 dollars you can buy a military ID with all the marks of military service.
At the same time, the outflow of young people from the country has increased - people are trying to leave to study abroad and do not return until they are 27 years old. In 2013, about 12,000 Turkmens studied abroad. For comparison, in 2009 there were only about 2.5 thousand of them. Today, according to various estimates, more than 20,000 Turkmens study abroad. In the fall of 2013, a new presidential decree on education came into force in Turkmenistan, extending schooling from nine to 12 years. As a result, students already at school reach the age of conscription, but are not subject to conscription, since they have not yet received a certificate.
Indirectly, a significant shortfall in conscription is evidenced by an unspoken increase in the terms of service. According to the law on the armed forces, the term of service in the Turkmen army is 24 months, but often conscripts have to stay in the army for a longer period. Turkmenistan partially inherited the form of military service from the USSR. In particular, dismissal from service occurs after the signing and publication of a presidential order. However, already in 2015, in some regions of Turkmenistan, conscripts continued to serve six to seven months after the publication of the order to transfer them to the reserve.
Against this background, the underfunding of the armed forces continues to increase. In particular, in the fall of this year, rations began to be cut in military units. As "Chronicles of Turkmenistan", in particular, military units in the Mary velayat switched to a reduced ration, since there are not enough funds to buy food. In order to somehow solve the problem with the food of the conscripts, in one of the units they were allowed to open a private canteen, where the soldiers could buy their own food. At the same time, instead of monetary allowance, conscripts usually receive a subscription to the newspaper Esger (Warrior) or Goshun (Army).
The deterioration in the funding of the armed forces of Turkmenistan is only one of several indications of a general economic deterioration in the country and a decrease in state budget revenues. In June 2017 President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov declared that the system of social benefits had become completely ineffective and instructed to cancel them. Recall that the law on providing the population with free use of electricity, gas, salt and water was adopted in Turkmenistan in 1993 for a period of ten years, and in 2003 it was extended until 2030. At the same time, limits were set on free goods. For example, electricity was provided free of charge at the rate of 35 kWh per family member and 50 cubic meters of gas per month, as well as 250 liters of water per day. However, from November 1, 2017, new tariffs for water, electricity, gas and other types of services were introduced in Turkmenistan. Thus, the cost of tap water consumed in excess of the released limit increased 25 times (5 manats ($1.4 at the official rate) per 10 cubic meters, and was 0.2 manats ($0.06) per 10 cubic meters).
The authorities of Turkmenistan explained the upcoming cancellation of benefits by increasing the welfare of the country's population - if before the country's economic situation was disastrous and the Turkmens could not pay their utility bills on their own, now this problem allegedly does not exist. Turkmenistan ranks fourth in the world in terms of natural gas reserves. In addition, the country has significant oil reserves. However, it seems that due to the closed economy, the rigid vertical of power and the deliberate distancing of the country's authorities from the global political and economic processes, Turkmenistan cannot realize this potential by increasing budget revenues.
In 2015, the construction of the TAPI gas pipeline (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) began. It was assumed that this joint pipeline with a design capacity of 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year would increase Turkmenistan's income from the sale of natural resources. Initially, it was planned to launch the gas pipeline in 2017, then this deadline was postponed to 2018, and then to 2019. At the same time, there is no certainty in the last date either. There are actually two serious reasons for the postponement - lack of funding and the aggravation of the internal Afghan conflict against the background of the penetration of the Islamic State militants into the country.
A weak economy cannot guarantee a strong military. A few years ago, the Turkmen army occupied an average position in the region in terms of its combat capability, surpassing the armed forces Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, but yielding to the armies Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The current combat readiness of the Turkmen army, due to the increased external threat and the crisis in the economy, raises more and more questions. Most likely, the republic can still withstand attempts to penetrate its territory by small combat groups of militants, but in a hypothetical local conflict with any of its neighbors, Turkmenistan will not survive without outside help. Moreover, it will not cope with a full-scale invasion of extremists from Afghanistan, separated from the republic by a 300-kilometer border.
Today, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan maintain friendly relations. In addition to the participation of these countries in the TAPI gas pipeline project, in 2007 these states jointly restored the trans-border road in the Turkmen Serhetabat area. In 2016, the first stage of the Asian Railway was opened between the Turkmen Atamyrat and Imamnazar and the Afghan Akina. Earlier, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov promised that Ashgabat would provide all possible assistance to Afghanistan in the post-war economic recovery.
Meanwhile, over the past couple of years, armed clashes have been constantly taking place on the Afghan-Turkmen border. In the middle of last year, according to unofficial data, several dozen Turkmen servicemen were killed. The increase in the number of such incidents may be associated with the arrival of the Taliban in the border provinces of Afghanistan, who are gradually pushed back from the interior of the country by the Afghan and American military. At the same time, the center of ISIS activity in Afghanistan is still concentrated in the east of the country, near the border with Pakistan, and so far does not pose a direct threat to Turkmenistan.
CIS portal. Today, referring to a veteran of the border troops of Turkmenistan, Durdy Charyev, I wrote a few months ago that the weapons and equipment on the border were modernized, new separation structures and barracks were built. The veteran spoke about the more serious training of military personnel. There is no reliable information about the composition and armament of the country's border service. In 2010, it was reported that it had three border detachments, two of which were located on the border with Afghanistan.
Until 1999, there was an agreement on the joint protection of the Turkmen border, under which border security was provided not only by the Turkmen troops, but also by the Russian military. In 1999, Russian border guards left Turkmenistan at the request of the government of that country. Then experts suggested that this was done so that Turkmenistan could fully control drug trafficking from Afghanistan.
Almost the entire period of independence, Turkmenistan adhered to neutrality, but it is not known how relevant this policy will be in the coming years. Recently, Turkmen President Berdymukhamedov has been meeting quite often with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. So, in early October, the presidents signed an agreement on strategic cooperation, which implies, among other things, an increase in trade between the two countries. It is possible that in the end a fundamentally new agreement on military cooperation will also be reached, which will call into question the non-bloc status of the republic and force it to reconsider its views on neutrality.
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