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Turkmenistan
Military Doctrine
President Niyazov has acknowledged Russia's legitimate military
interests in the region, stating that his country's security interests
can be better served through cooperation with Russia than through
participation in multinational military organizations. Membership
in the latter contradicts its foreign policy of noninterference,
as well as its military doctrine that the principal function of
Turkmenistan's army is to protect the country from external aggression.
Another military doctrine holds that local wars, border conflicts,
and military buildups in adjacent countries are the main source
of danger to Turkmenistan. Although Turkmenistan has no disputed
borders, its doctrine is based on concerns about the civil conflicts
in Tajikistan and the instability in northern Afghanistan, especially
after the collapse of its pro-Soviet regime in 1989, as well as
on traditional tensions with Iran. On the other hand, Turkmenistan's
leadership completely discounts the fear that Islamic fundamentalism
would spread from Iran into the republic, a prospect of low probability
considering that Iranian fundamentalists adhere to the Shia branch
of Islam, while the state-controlled Islam of Turkmenistan belongs
to the Sunni branch. Traditional animosity between Turkmen and
Iranians is also a reason for reaching this conclusion (see Religion,
this ch.).
Data as of March 1996
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