Word: turkmenistan
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...changes have been taking place in Central Asia than the sheepherder could ever imagine. Freed from control by Moscow, a vast stretch of the Eurasian continent populated by more than 50 million predominantly Muslim, Turkic-speaking peoples has unfolded to the outside world. The former Soviet republics of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan never agitated for the breakup of the union and even served as a passive but powerful prop for the communist regime. Once centralized Soviet control began to split apart, however, they had little choice but to join the exodus toward independence...
...What is going to happen in the former Soviet Union is uncertain, so Turkey's position is more important than before. A new window of opportunity has opened for us with the Turkic republics. They speak our language. ((Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan speak Turkic languages. In Tajikistan the language is akin to Iranian Farsi.)) We are urging them to remain secular and to switch to the Latin alphabet...
...violent events in Tbilisi herald a new era where no one can afford to shrug off the politics of Georgia -- or Azerbaijan or Kirghzia or Turkmenistan. Now that all the parts of the old Soviet empire are clamoring to be recognized as independent sovereign states, their appeals will have to be seriously considered by the international community, however far they may be from the ideals of a Western democracy. As a U.S. official ruefully admitted, "Gamsakhurdia won an overwhelming expression of support in the May election. On the other hand, he was not running a democratic state." Self- determination...
What's in an alphabet? For the six Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union -- Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kirghizia, Tadzhikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan -- the answer may be cultural identity. As the 55 million inhabitants of the republics, most of them Muslims, consider a new written form of expression to replace the Russian Cyrillic alphabet, the choice has taken on geopolitical implications. Turkey, whose switch from Arabic to Latin script 64 years ago symbolized its shift toward Western-style democracy, wants the republics to follow its lead. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and Iran are pressuring them to adopt Arabic script -- and, they...
...member Commonwealth of Independent States had been created on the soil of the former Soviet Union. He granted recognition to all 12 and announced that diplomatic relations would be opened immediately between the U.S. and Russia, Ukraine, Belorussia, Kazakhstan, Kirghizia and Armenia. The other six -- Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldavia, Tadzhikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan -- could expect diplomatic ties once they committed themselves to "responsible security policies and democratic principles...