Turkmenistan has agreed to allow non-lethal NATO supplies to be transported through its air space. This is a big deal because Turkmenistan is officially neutral and has been very cautious about getting mixed up into any other state’s affairs. The Turkmen president, Berdymukhamedov, announced the new agreements on his visit to Tashkent February 24-25th.
According to the Jamestown foundation, Turkmenistan seems to be looking for guidance from Uzbekistan on relations with the West. Uzbekistan gave pragmatic advice to a newly open Turkmenistan to work together with NATO in such a way as to not anger domestic interests. Uzbekistan has also expressed interest in restarting the construction of the Termez-Mazar-e Sharif railway, which would link Termez to Afghanistan. Economic and infrastructure connections in the region can only help all parties involved. As Jamestown noted, low-key access should be promoted over high profile bases in order to promote US interests and regional interests as well.
