Spain–Turkmenistan relations

Spain and Turkmenistan established diplomatic relations on March 19, 1992. Spain keeps its ambassador in Moscow accredited in Ashjabad since the mid-1990s. Turkmenistan has just accredited (September 25, 2013) its first ambassador in Madrid, also, as in the Spanish case, residing in Moscow.[3]

The issuance of visas to residents of Turkmenistan who intend to travel to Spain is the responsibility of the consular section of the (Germany) embassy in Ashjabad or the Spanish consulate general in Moscow.[3]

In April 2007, newly invested President Gurbanguly Berdymujamédov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, visited Turkmenistan as President-in-Office of OSCE. It was the first visit of a member of the Spanish government to Turkmenistan.[3]

In the framework of a tour he made in Central Asia, Minister Moratinos visited Turkmenistan again in July 2009. He held a meeting with his Turkmen counterpart, Rashid Meredov. During this visit, it was agreed to promote meetings at the political level, cooperation in the field of energy, university cooperation and scientific-technical cooperation. Bilateral relations are still very scarce.[3]

Trade between Spain and Turkmenistan is minimal and statistically insignificant. Exports from Spain to Turkmenistan represented in 2011 and 2012 0.005% and 0.011%, respectively, of the total Spanish exports.[4]

In 2012, Spanish exports were more than double those of 2011 (+ 137%) and imports decreased by 9.5%, bringing the coverage rate to 322% (123% in 2011).[4]

It is necessary to bear in mind that, given the reduced magnitude of the exchanges, the annual variations in exports, imports, rates of coverage and trade balance can take excessively large (and therefore) insignificant values.[4]

Almost all Spanish imports from Turkmenistan are usually cotton textile products.[4]

There are no relevant development aid flows, either from AECID or by other autonomous organizations. The University of Córdoba maintains various university cooperation activities with Turkmenistan since the beginning of 2004, having led two Tempus projects with the Agricultural University of Ashjabad. He has created a laboratory and equipped with the necessary microscopes and magnifying glasses to that university.[5]

He has promoted a third project on the internationalization of higher education in Turkmenistan (in coordination with the University of Seville). The Department of Ancient History of the Autonomous University of Madrid carries out a project in the Balkan region (velayat) to carry out excavations at the archaeological site of Dehistan (in 2007 the rector of said university and the Turkmen Minister of Culture and Radio Television signed an agreement to that effect).[5]