Anis H. Bajrektarevic is a Professor and a Chairperson for International Law and Global

Turkmenistan’s 
President 
Nursultan
Nazarbayev, “Turkmenbashi,” died in 2006, leav-
ing a closed-country more susceptible to desta-
bilizing factors. Current President Gurbanguly
Berdymukhammedov, ascended to the Presi-
dency (he was Niyazov’s dentist), and made a
seamless transition. Berdymukhammedov has
disassembled Turkmenbashi’s cult of personal-
ity while building his own simultaneously.
kazakhstan,
since independence has re-
mained the most stable despite random ex-
tremist/terrorist attacks in Aktobe, Atyrau and
political violence such as the oil worker labor
protest in Zhanaozen in December 2011. 
Economically, Kazakhstan is at the top and has
expanded its political partnerships and has
made a name for itself in the natural resource
market. 
MODERNDIPLOMACY.EU

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The post-Soviet Era for the region has been
mixed. Each of the countries has created new
relationships, new policies, and have shared
struggles and faced challenges. Each of the
countries have been subjected to political, so-
cial, and economic pressures resulting from
their closeness with Russia and their diplomatic
relations with Russia or lack thereof with other
non-former Soviet Union countries. Turk-
menistan has maintained its stance of neutrality
avoiding membership in Russian-dominated
organizations. Turkmenistan’s membership in
regional organizations such as the Collective
Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Shang-
hai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and the
Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) has opened
new markets and has facilitated new economic
and security arrangements and partnerships,
but at the same time has strengthened Russia’s
grip over the region and individual countries
such as Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

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