Military operations in Ukraine took the Turkmen diplomatic representation in this country by surprise. Prior to the outbreak of the conflict, citizens of other countries were immediately warned by their foreign ministries to leave Ukraine. An evacuation was organized for them. Some Central Asian countries, even after the start of the military conflict, began to take their citizens out of Ukraine. Turkmen citizens have not yet received such an offer from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.
On the very first day of the outbreak of the conflict, the citizens of Turkmenistan “cut off” the phones of the embassy and consulate in Kyiv, others personally went to where they encountered traditional silence. The most active of them write to the President of Turkmenistan, to the Turkmen Foreign Ministry, to the Ukrainian authorities, to human rights activists, and even to the Kremlin, President V.V. Putin.
Having received no concrete answers, Turkmen citizens in Ukraine organized themselves in social networks. Today, young people have begun to fill out a list of those in trouble in the hope that official Ashgabat will pay attention to its fellow citizens.
The list contains more than 300 people, it contains full names, dates of birth, city and address of residence, passport number, Ukrainian phone number and phone numbers of relatives in Turkmenistan. Young people intend to send the list to their native embassy in Ukraine - embassy@ambturkm.org.ua. In parallel, they decided to send this list to human rights activists, in case the Turkmen authorities take the traditional position “my hut is on the edge, I don’t know anything.” THF has already received a copy.
This is how a Turkmen activist from Kyiv justified this step: "Our authorities will not be able to deny that we hid and did not turn to them for help."
The list is growing.
In Kyiv, from February 26 to February 28, a curfew is introduced. From 17:00 to 08:00, citizens are prohibited from being on the streets of the city.
UPD. An announcement appeared on social networks with the following content: To the attention of citizens of Turkmenistan who study there or temporarily live there! Strictly follow the instructions of the leadership of your university; Stay away from military installations, airports, TV towers/repeaters, as well as important infrastructure such as bridges - in case of war, such structures are the first to be bombed. Do not participate in any political or military actions, even if you sympathize with one of the sides of the war. For participation, you can, at a minimum, be deported from the country, and at the maximum, you can be imprisoned or even killed.
Contact details of Turkmen diplomats in Kyiv: Embassy Kiev, st. Pushkinskaya, 6
tel. (+38)044-279-34-49 e-mail: embassy@ambturkm.org.ua.
Consulate: tel.(+38)044-278-68-70
Turkmen Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights
