Turkmenistan Grants Citizenship to 16000 Immigrants and Refugees
Topic: Foreign Relations
Ashgabat, 4 August 2005 (nCa) --- President of Turkmenistan signed a landmark series of decrees and resolutions Thursday, granting citizenship rights to more than 16000 immigrants and refugees living on the territory of Turkmenistan.

According to the presidential decision, the following categories of persons have been granted the citizenship rights:

- Former citizens of Tajikistan, representing different nationalities but mostly ethnic Turkmens, who were uprooted from their country as a consequence of the civil war in the 1990’s.

- Persons living on the Turkmen territory that was formerly temporarily rented to Uzbekistan.

- Those persons who migrated to Turkmenistan for permanent residence because of family or other reasons.

The decision by the government of Turkmenistan to give citizenship rights to such a large number of refugees and immigrants is another indicator that Turkmenistan is following a broad range of policies aimed at promoting peace and harmony in the world.

For more than a decade, Turkmenistan has continued to cooperate with UNHCR, IOM and other international organizations and world governments to help solve civil conflicts in the region and provide relief to refugees and displaced persons.

In addition to accepting refugees from the neighbouring countries, Turkmenistan provided assistance in resolving the armed conflicts in Tajikistan and Afghanistan.

President Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan has sent a message to the newly accepted citizens of the country, expressing confidence that they would actively participate in the construction and strengthening of the independent and neutral Turkmenistan.

Khwarezmid Empire
Topic: Turkmen History
The Khwarezmid Empire (also known as the Khwarezmian Empire) was a Muslim state formed by Oghuz Turks in the 11th century in Khwarezmia that lasted until the Mongol invasion in 1220.

The date of the founding of the empire is uncertain. Khwarezm was a province of the Ghaznavid Empire from 992 to 1041. In 1077 the governorship of the province, which now belonged to the Seljuk Turks, fell into the hands of Anu? Tigin ?ar?ai. In 1141, the Seljuk sultan Ahmed Sanjar was defeated by the Kara Khitay (Kara-Khitan Khanate) and Anu? Tigin's grandson Ala ad-Din Aziz was forced to submit as a vassal of the Kara Khitay.

Sultan Ahmed Sanjar was killed in 1156 and when the Seljuk state fell into chaos, the Khwarezms expanded their territories south. In 1194, the last sultan of Great Seljuk, To?r?l III, was defeated and killed by the Khwarezm ruler Ala ad-Din Tekish who also freed himself of the Kara Khitay. In 1200, Tekish died and was succeeded by his son, Ala ad-Din Muhammad, who by 1205 had conquered all of Great Seljuk and declared himself shah. In 1212 he defeated the Gur-Khan Kutluk and conquered the lands of the Kara Khitay, now ruling a territory from the Jaxartes almost all the way to Baghdad, and from the Indus River to the Caspian Sea.

In 1218 Chinggis Khan sent some emissaries to the shah who executed the Mongol diplomats in defiance of the emerging great power, and Genghis retaliated with a force of 200 000 men. In February 1220 the Mongolian army crossed the Jaxartes. The Mongols stormed Bukhara and Samarkand, the latter the Khwarezmian capital. The shah fled and died some weeks later on an island in the Caspian Sea.

In Great Captains Unveiled of 1927, B.H. Liddell Hart gave details of the Mongol campaign against Khwarezm which underscored his own philosophy of "the indirect approach," and highlighted many of the tactics used by Genghis which were to be subsequently included in the German blitzkrieg form of war, inspired in part by Liddell Hart's writings.

The son of Ala ad-Din Muhammad, Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu, became the new sultan (he rejected the title shah) but he had to flee to India. The Mongols run up with him before he got there, however, and he was defeated at the Battle of Indus. He and his closest followers then fled to Armenia where they attacked the Seljuk Sultanate of R?m. He had a brief victory and captured the town Ahlat, but was later defeated by sultan Kay Qubadh I at the Battle of Yassi Chemen in 1230. He was murdered in 1231 by an assassin.

Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu's followers remained loyal to him even after his death and raided the Seljuk lands of Jazira and Syria for the next several years, calling themselves the Khwarezmiyyas. Ayyubid sultan Salih Ayyub later hired them as mercenaries against his uncle Salih Ismail and they actually captured Jerusalem in 1244, triggering the Seventh Crusade.

The Khwarezmiyyas served in Egypt as Mameluks before they were finally beaten by Mansur Ibrahim some years later.


Ghaznavid Governors of Khwarezm
Abu Ali Mamun I 992-997
Abu al-Hasan Ali 997-1009
Abu al-Abbas Mamun II 1009-1017
Muhammad 1017
Altun Yash 1017-1032
Harun 1032-1034
Ismail Khandan 1034-1041

Khwarezmian Dynasty
Anu? Tigin ?ar?ai 1077-1097
Qutb ad-Din Muhammad I 1097-1127
Ala ad-Din Aziz 1127-1156
Il-Arslan 1156-1172
Sultan Shah 1172-1193
Ala ad-Din Tekish 1172-1200
Ala ad-Din Muhammad II 1200-1220
Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu 1220-1231

Source: www.answers.com

Turkmenistan is Buying $ 19 mln Worth of Tractors in Belarus
Topic: Economy & business
Association for agricultural services “Turkmenobahyzmat” has signed a contract with Belarus “Minsk tractor plant” for the purchase of 500 units of “Belarus 1221” tractors and 500 units of “Belarus 80X” tractors totaling US $ 13,125 mln and US $ 5,540 mln respectively.

“Turkmenobahyzmat” also signed a contract with Belarus “Minsk tractor gear plant” for the purchase of 500 units of “PLN 4-35 P-2 T” ploughs amounting to US $ 755,000.

A consignment of Belarus tractors and ploughs will arrive in Turkmenistan by December 31, 2005. New equipment will be used during preparation of agricultural lands for sowing campaign 2006, the Ashgabat correspondent of Turkmenistan.ru reports.

Internet Newspaper Turkmenistan.Ru

U.S. Held a Seminar for Turkmenistan Coastguards
Topic: Foreign Relations
30 July 2005. Yesterday a special seminar for the officers of the coastguard held by the US Embassy to Ashgabat and the State Frontier Service of Turkmenistan. The U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Turkmenistan Tracey Ann Jacobson specially came to Turkmenbashi to congratulate the participants of the seminar and gave them certificates.

The joint training was held within the framework of the current exchange programme initiated by the American Embassy and aimed at prevention of spreading the weapons of mass destruction through trainings and handing down the special equipment to the national service of the coastguard and customs.

The agenda of the regular training in which about 23 representatives of the Coastguard Services of the USA and Turkmenistan took part included the methods of customs inspection of the ships detained and those of revealing the secret tanks and drugs.

State Information Agency of Turkmenistan (TDH)

UK, Turkmenistan to Bolster Anti-Terror Cooperation
Topic: Foreign Relations
Ashgabat, 29 July 2005 (nCa) --- Ambassador Peter Butcher, the new British envoy to Turkmenistan, presented his credentials Thursday to President Saparmurat Niyazov.

The sides expressed confidence that mutually beneficial relations based on equality would continue to flourish during the tenure of Ambassador Butcher.

It was agreed that in order to maintain security and peace in the world, there was need for more efforts to combat terrorism and narcotics that are posing threat to the entire mankind.

Niyazov, who had earlier sent a message of condolence to Prime Minister Blair on the recent bombings in London, again expressed his sorrow and grief at the carnage.

Ambassador Butcher said that he would do his best to further develop the good relations between the two countries.

British envoy mentioned even though Burren Energy and Dragon Oil were traditional partners of Turkmenistan, there were many more British firms that were highly interested in entering the Turkmen market.

Ambassador Butcher presented a letter from Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.

www.newscentralasia.com