92003E0627

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0627/03

by Jonas Sjöstedt (GUE/NGL) to the Council

(25 February 2003)

Subject: Political persecution in Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan has developed into a harsh dictatorship in which the political opposition is systematically repressed. Even relatives and friends of opposition figures are punished with imprisonment, torture and internal exile.

One example of such repression is the reprisals suffered by the relatives of Sapar Yklimov. Sapar Yklimov was previously forced to leave Turkmenistan because of his criticism of the dictatorship in the country. He now lives in Sweden and is a Swedish citizen. Sapar Yklimov's relatives are being persecuted in Turkmenistan and are refused permission to leave the country. Among those being persecuted is Sapar Yklimov's daughter, who was previously in Sweden as a refugee.

What action has the Council taken against the persecution in Turkmenistan? Has the question of the persecution of Sapar Yklimov's relatives, among them his daughter, been taken up directly with the regime in Turkmenistan or does the Council intend to do so in the future?

Reply

(22 July 2003)

The difficult situation in Turkmenistan is a matter of grave concern to the European Union. In its declaration of 20 January 2003, the EU expressed its unequivocal support for a full and transparent investigation into recent events in Turkmenistan.

The Council would recall that seven EU Member States, and three other OSCE members, have implemented with regard to Turkmenistan the OSCE Moscow mechanism, which was adopted at the 1991 meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension in Moscow. More generally, the EU has supported this process since the start and actively monitored its implementation in Turkmenistan. The EU backs the efforts made by the Netherlands in the context of its OSCE Presidency to engage the authorities in Ashgabat in dialogue. The talks held by the Netherlands Minister for Foreign Affairs on 3 March 2003 were particularly useful in this respect.

The situation in Turkmenistan was the subject of considerable discussion at a meeting of all EU Heads of Mission in Central Asia on 5/6 March 2003. In the course of this and other Council discussions, various individual cases have been highlighted for attention.

Over the past weeks, EU Heads of Mission in Ashgabat have made strenuous efforts to communicate the EU's concerns to the Turkmen authorities, but have met with considerable difficulties. In these circumstances, the main priority has been to urge the Turkmen authorities to change their attitude, rather than to focus on individual cases.

Nonetheless, the EU will continue to seize every opportunity, including in the context of the 59th UNHCR meeting, to raise concerns, both general and specific, about the situation in Turkmenistan.