Turkmenistan
One littoral state speaks about the Caspian
Turkmenistan called the attack on a vessel in the Caspian inadmissible and named nobody at all. Kyiv answered Tehran the same day, and Baku and Tehran shut each other’s broadcasters.
Nowhere to put a bad week
The region has spent a decade building capacity to move things and almost nothing to hold them. July is showing what that costs.
The first e-TIR truck heads for Turkmenistan
The first pilot shipment under the electronic TIR customs system between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan began this week, the head of Azerbaijan’s road carriers association said: the cargo has already crossed from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan over the Caspian and moves on to Turkmenistan next.
Turkmenistan negotiates its own terminal on the Black Sea
At a business forum in Georgia on 16 July, Serdar Berdimuhamedov said Ashgabat is in talks to establish a Turkmen cargo terminal on Georgia’s Black Sea coast. Add the Damen dredging talks at Turkmenbashi and the Baku transit spine, and the corridor’s quietest player is assembling positions at every gate between the Caspian and Europe.
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The corridor Central Asia is betting on is running low on water
This week Turkmenistan's ambassador called on the Dutch shipbuilder Damen to talk about its Caspian port, and the headline was dredging. The detail matters more than a courtesy visit suggests. The Caspian Sea is falling, and the trade corridor Central Asia is building to bypass Russia depends on ports staying deep enough to use.
Air Belgium will fly cargo through Ashgabat, and Turkmenistan dreams of a hub
Air Belgium plans to start cargo flights through Ashgabat in early August, the Turkmen embassy in Brussels said. For one of the world’s most closed countries, the freighter is a small bet on becoming an air-cargo bridge between Europe and Asia.
A gas superpower cannot keep the lights on in Mary, so it fired the officials
Turkmenistan holds some of the world’s largest gas reserves. In its Mary Region this month the power went out almost daily in 40-degree heat, a rare street protest followed, and the state’s answer was to dismiss local officials. The lights are still flickering.
Iran threatens to close Hormuz again, and the wartime premium ticks back
The talks that collapsed on Friday reconvened at the Burgenstock over the weekend and reported guarded progress. But Iran threatened to shut the Strait of Hormuz once more over Israel's strikes on Lebanon, oil edged back toward $80, and the premium Central Asia had been losing all week stopped fading. The deal is holding on paper and fraying in practice.
The war that gave Central Asia an edge is over
The US and Iran signed the memorandum ending their war late Wednesday — Trump at Versailles, Pezeshkian in Tehran, Pakistan's Sharif as mediator in Islamabad. Hormuz is filling with ships again. For Central Asia, the windfall of the last three months begins to unwind, and a different door opens.
Iran deal inches toward Friday's signing, Hormuz still barely moving
The US–Iran framework agreement is on track for a Geneva ceremony on 19 June, but the Strait of Hormuz remains close to shut. Three days of pre-implementation talks in Doha separate the region's energy markets from any real relief.
Central Asia’s wartime windfall ends with the war
For 100 days the closed Gulf made Central Asia’s oil more valuable and its non-Gulf routes look wise. With Hormuz reopening, the region goes back to competing on price and reliability, with less of both than it would like.
Turkmenistan and Georgia push trade and transit ties in Tbilisi
Turkmen and Georgian officials met in Tbilisi on 10 June to expand trade, investment and transit, with Georgian Railway and Black Sea ports at the centre of the talks.
Turkmenistan, one of the world’s most closed states, talks AI with OpenAI
A Turkmen education delegation met OpenAI this week to discuss using AI in schools. For one of the planet’s most isolated governments, even the conversation is a departure.
Tajikistan breaks ground on an IT hub and a regional AI centre in Dushanbe
Tajikistan laid the foundation on 9 June for IT Hub Dushanbe, a complex housing an IT park, a business centre and a regional AI centre. The project is fronted by Rustam Emomali, the president’s son and presumed successor.
The Trans-Caspian pipeline returns to the agenda as Europe’s gas deadline nears
A pipeline idea that has circled the Caspian for thirty years looks newly serious as Europe’s 2027 deadline to drop Russian gas closes in.
The EU goes to Ashgabat: what rights groups want from the June 22 dialogue
The 18th annual EU-Turkmenistan Human Rights Dialogue takes place in Ashgabat on June 22. IPHR and TIHR published a briefing this week telling Brussels what to demand.
What the EBRD Is Bringing to Riga — and What Central Asia Should Watch
The Bank's 35th Annual Meeting opens Thursday. For the region, three things matter: the new Regional Economic Prospects, the Aktau port investment, and the signal on Trans-Caspian financing.
The Level of the Delegation Is the Message
Central Asia is in St. Petersburg this week — but not equally. What each country’s roster says about where the relationship with Russia actually stands