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Turkmenistan
Internal Security Forces
The criminal justice system of Turkmenistan is deeply rooted
in Soviet institutions and practices. Its Committee for National
Security, headed by chairman Saparmurad Seidov, retains essentially
the same functions, operations, and personnel of the Soviet-era
KGB. As it did in the Soviet period, the Ministry of Internal
Affairs continues to direct the operations of police departments
and to work closely with the Committee for National Security on
matters of national security.
The national police force, estimated to include 25,000 personnel,
is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The force is located in cities and settlements throughout the
country, with garrisons in Ashgabat, Gyzylarbat, and Dashhowuz.
Police departments do not have an investigative function in Turkmenistan;
that role is filled by the procurator's offices in Ashgabat and
other cities (see Criminal Justice, this ch.). The police role
is confined to routine maintenance of public order and to certain
administrative tasks such as controlling the internal passport
regime, issuing visas for foreign travel, and registering foreign
guests.
At the national level, the primary security concerns are prevention
of trafficking in drugs and other illegal commodities, and combatting
organized and international crime. In December 1994, Turkmenistan's
Committee for National Security and the Russian Federation's Foreign
Intelligence Service (a successor agency to the KGB) signed a
five-year agreement for cooperation in state security and mutual
protection of the political, economic, and technological interests
of the two states.
Data as of March 1996
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