Turkmenistan

Capital:                       Ashgabat

Population:                  4,9 Mio.

GDP per capita:            $7400  (The World Factbook, 2010)
 

Drug situation in Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan, together with its Central Asian neighbours, is faced with a critical drug problem. Turkmenistan shares a long joint border with Afghanistan (744 km) and "is a transhipment route for narcotics traffickers attempting to smuggle Afghan opiates to Turkish, Russian and European markets, by several different routes, including through Iran. Turkmenistan itself is not a major producer or source country for illegal drugs or precursor chemicals."  (U.S.-Turkmenistan Cooperate on Drugs, 2010). Heroin and opium prevail among the four main drugs consumed within and trafficked via Turkmenistan. The statistics are challenging: in the second half of 2009 Turkmenistan seized significant amounts of Cannabis Herb (19,806 kg); Cannabis Resin (32,884 kg); heroin (262.410 kg) and opium (863.291 kg) according to a Study of UNODC. Recent data from the Central Asia Regional Information and Coordination Centre (CARICC) indicates the emergence of a new route through Turkmenistan: From Afghanistan to the Islamic Republic of Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan-Russian Federation/CIS countries-Europe (World Drug Report, 2010).

At a session of the State Security Council in June 2009, Turkmenistan publicly recognised that despite having taken measures to control illicit drug trafficking, this "evil" had not been eliminated and thus emphasised the need to intensify efforts to combat drug trafficking and drug abuse at both the national and international levels.  (U.S.-Turkmenistan Cooperate on Drugs, 2010).

CADAP 5 in Turkmenistan
The CADAP 5 Programme was launched in Turkmenistan in May 2010 and the Steering Committee meeting to start CADAP activities was held in February 2011. The programme focuses on sustainability and capacity building throughout its components. To further the country's efforts to set up an effective drug control system, CADAP 5 planned and started the implementation of the following activities in 2011:

• High-level Dialogue meeting on the implementation of the EU and Central Asia Drug Action Plan 2009-2013 under the Hungarian Presidency in Brussels
• High level working group level national and regional conferences to share best practices within CADAP components, exchange experiences between CA and EU;
• In-country training for national leading experts on advanced methodologies used in different CADAP components, facilitated by international experts;
• Study visits to Germany and Poland for leading Turkmenistan experts to study EU experiences  within the framework of the CADAP components;
• In-country assessment and evaluation workshops to evaluate the results of the activities completed and plan for next steps.

Related Documents

Turkmenistan GIZ Office Turkmenistan 1922 str. 3 "A" (former Stepan Razin) 744000 Ashgabat, Turkmenistan		National Coordinator Mehri Karakulova T: +993 (12) 28 75 72 M: +993 65 04 48 66 mehri.karakulova@giz.de
		Administrative Support Svetlana Bairamova T/F   993 12 - 287572 M 993 66 - 846703 Svetlana.Bairamova@giz.de

Europa House Turkmenistan