1. Sanctions Unlikely.
- Subjects
INTERNATIONAL sanctions ,DUAL nationality ,GROSS domestic product - Abstract
Despite the increasingly eccentric rule of Turkmenistan's president, Saparmurat Niyazov, who has built the world's longest shoe, at 6.2 meters long, as a symbol of the 'great strides' the republic has taken under his rule, has elevated August 11 to the status of a national holiday to celebrate Muskmelon Day; and who has fostered his personality cult by renaming the months of the year and the days of the week — Western chancelleries remain reluctant to criticize the regime too openly. Indeed, on August 8, U.S. President George W. Bush submitted a waiver of the Jackson-Vanik amendment to the Trade Act of 1974. Passed in the midst of the Cold War, the Jackson-Vanik amendment allows normal trade relations with communist nations but only if the president certifies that such treatment promotes freedom of emigration. The amendment also effectively bars access to official credit and credit guarantee programs to countries that restrict emigration. With Russia keen to keep U.S. influence in Turkmenistan at bay, reports that the country might be considering sanctions against it over the issue of dual Russian-Turkmen citizenship, also look improbable, despite accusations at home that Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, had betrayed Russian nationals by 'swapping' them for gas — alluding to the major energy supply deal. Real GDP of Turkmenistan grew by 21.5% in the first half of 2003.
- Published
- 2003