Alwaght- Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, the President of Turkmenistan recently made a visit to Kabul during which the two countries signed five agreements and memorandum of understanding. Turkmen President's official visit to Kabul was conducted as Ashraf Ghani, the president of Afghanistan had traveled to Ashgabat in late January this year (2015), and the presidents and high-ranking officials of both countries signed five documents of cooperation about political, diplomatic, economic, energy and sport issues between Ashgabat and Kabul. In this article, considering the history of relations between Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, we deal with the role of political variables in current relations between the two countries.
Political cooperation opportunities
If you look into the current situation in the relations between the two countries, you see that on the one hand Turkmenistan seeks to have a different role in its foreign policy and to fulfill active neutrality policy based on which it is expanding its relations with the neighbors, such as Afghanistan. On the other hand, Afghanistan with regard to its new conditions, takes a more serious look at its northwestern neighbor. Particularly that out of five provinces of Turkmenistan, two important provinces i.e., Ahal and Mary are bordering Afghanistan. This has made the government of both countries to focus their attention on one another. In addition, considering the geopolitical position of Afghanistan, three decades of different crises in Afghanistan, the growing insecurity in this country, the possibility of the infiltration of Afghanistan Salafi movements into Turkmenistan, and the spread of insecurity in this country have more than ever directed the attention of Turkmenistan to Afghanistan. However, with regard to the political structure of the hierarchy of power in Ashgabat and the lack of any role for the Islamists in Turkmenistan, the infiltration of extremists groups or the formation of extremist political movements or opposition could pose a serious challenge to political stability in Turkmenistan. Accordingly, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow has recently expressed his country's readiness to develop cooperation with Afghanistan in counter-narcotics activities and combating against terrorism and extremism in the region, and contributing to the peace process in Afghanistan; he also declared that Turkmenistan is ready to cooperate with Afghanistan without any "interference in the internal affairs of the country". It should be noted that although Afghanistan and Turkmenistan have some border disputes, these disputes have not affected the relations between the two countries. Nevertheless, to deal with two major issues i.e., the increased drug transfer and the spread of extremists and fundamental groups such as ISIS from Afghanistan to Turkmenistan, can extend the dimensions of cooperation between the two countries.
In addition, Turkmenistan is among the countries that in the past two decades have supported the efforts to bring peace to Afghanistan. In 1990s, the country once hosted a meeting between Taliban negotiators and 'the United Front against the Taliban'. The importance of developing such relations lies in tense relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, as Kabul can seize the opportunity and somehow put Turkmenistan against Pakistan. In other words, as the President of Turkmenistan declared readiness to contribute to the peace process in Afghanistan and the Istanbul Peace Process, the country not only can host the Istanbul Peace Process, but also it can host the peace talks between Taliban and Afghanistan, whose first round was held in Pakistan. Istanbul Peace Process is aimed to establish peace in Afghanistan. Undertaken by Turkey, the peace process includes Afghanistan and Pakistan.
