Turkmenistan's population of about 3.8 million has a majority of Sunni Muslim Turkmen (72%), with small minorities of Russians (9%) and Uzbeks (9%). Turkmenistan has been able to avoid both domestic and international ethnic conflicts. Its foreign policy defines ethnic Turkmen peoples living in other nations as citizens of those nations. This defuses a potential source of tension with the governments of Iran and Turkey in particular, since those countries have Turkmen minorities. Furthermore, Turkmenistan defines itself as a secular nation, hoping to avoid conflicts based on religious ideology.
Turkmenistan is increasing its economic ties with other Islamic nations, particularly Iran and Turkey, who have been competing with each other for cultural and economic influence in Central Asia. Vast untapped natural resources (particularly oil and natural gas) are the basis for other nations' interests in the economic development of Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan hopes to build its infrastructure through cooperation with its neighbors.
The nuclear power plant mentioned in one of the articles below is under construction in northern Iran, 50 kilometers from the border of Turkmenistan, in an earthquake-prone area. It is being built by Russians under contract to the Iranian government. Thus ecologists opposed to it may be seen as a threat to Turkmenistan's policy of cooperation with its two most powerful neighbors.
Turkmenistan is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Currently, 15,000 Russian troops in Turkmenistan ensure Russian access to the area as well as maintaining the borders with Iran and Afghanistan.
Although there are mountains in its southern and eastern border regions, much of the land area of Turkmenistan is the Kara Kum Desert. The Amu Darya river flows through Turkmenistan's northern area before running north into the Aral Sea. Irrigation canals draining water from the Amu Darya have been used to promote large-scale cotton growing for over two decades. More recently, in a national drive toward self- sufficiency, new lands are being plowed and irrigated in an effort to grow grain. Since this region is very arid, increasing soil salinity and nitrite-laden dust from dried canal and river beds have become major ecological and health problems, just as in Uzbekistan. Unfortunately, since agriculture is still a largely government-run enterprise, expression of environmental concerns can involve criticism of government development policies.
(Sources: David T. Twining, The New Eurasia. London: Praeger, 1993; 'Russia and the Near Abroad: A Teddy bear, After All?' The Economist, December 10, 1994).