Relationship dossier
Turkmenistan
United States
Relationship assessment
Practical U.S.–Turkmenistan engagement coexists with persistent disagreements over human rights and governance.
Turkmenistan toward United States
+15Turkmenistan has engaged the United States through bilateral consultations and cooperation on regional security and Afghanistan-related issues, while maintaining its policy of permanent neutrality.
United States toward Turkmenistan
+15The United States has supported Turkmenistan’s sovereignty and neutrality and has engaged its government through bilateral consultations and assistance programs. It has also raised human-rights and political-freedom concerns.
Overall relationship
+15The relationship combines recurring diplomatic engagement and practical cooperation on regional issues with significant disagreement over political freedoms and governance. Cooperation is selective rather than a close strategic partnership.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Turkmenistan and the United States maintain practical engagement, including recurring bilateral consultations and cooperation on regional security and Afghanistan-related issues. The United States has supported Turkmenistan’s sovereignty and permanent-neutrality policy, while also raising concerns about human rights and political freedoms. The relationship is cooperative in selected areas but constrained by differences over governance and the scope of engagement.
Areas of tension
- U.S. criticism of restrictions on political freedoms and human rights in Turkmenistan.
Key developments
The two governments began an annual bilateral consultation process.
Turkmenistan joined the United States and other Central Asian governments in the C5+1 regional diplomatic format.
Major uncertainties
- The current scope and implementation of bilateral security and assistance cooperation are unclear.
- The extent of practical follow-through from bilateral consultations is unclear.