AP News, June 22nd, 2007
A top U.S. military commander met with Turkmenistan's new president for talks on regional security, counterterrorism operations and drug trafficking, state media reported Thursday.
Adm. William Fallon's trip came as Washington jockeys with Moscow for influence in the natural-gas rich Central Asian nation, which has begun to emerge from years of authoritarian rule by the late Saparmurat Niyazov.
Under Niyazov, Turkmenistan maintained an official state policy of neutrality. After the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, Washington requested _ and was granted _ overflight rights for U.S. military planes headed to Afghanistan.
Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov, who succeeded Niyazov after his death in December, has moved to open Turkmen society and bolster foreign ties.
Russia succeeded last month in securing Turkmenistan's agreement for a landmark pipeline deal that would strengthen Moscow's control over Central Asia's energy export routes. That was seen as a blow to U.S. and European efforts to secure Turkmenistan's backing for a pipeline running under the Caspian Sea, which would bypass Russia.
Berdymukhamedov has said the country is interested in developing other routes to Europe and Asia.
The state newspaper Neutral Turkmenistan said that during their meeting Wednesday, Fallon, who heads the U.S. Central Command overseeing operations in Afghanistan, and Berdymukhamedov discussed a "wide spectrum of questions."
"As the high-ranking guest noted, the U.S. government again positively assessed its cooperation with Turkmenistan and sees great perspective in this partnership for establishing interaction for military structures of both countries in the questions of guaranteeing regional security," the newspaper reported.
The New York Times reported that Berdymukhamedov discussed his desire to build a pipeline that would offer an alternate export route for gas under the Caspian Sea, bypassing the Russian pipeline network.
But, Berdymukhamedov noted there were environmental obstacles and questions about demarking the borders for countries with Caspian shorelines, the Times reported.
The landlocked Caspian Sea is believed to contain the world's third-largest energy reserves. Turkmenistan shares rights to the sea floor with Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Russia. The nations have failed to agree on the boundaries of their sectors.
