EU-Türkmenistan Human Rights Dialogue: Call for Freedoms to Aşkabat

The European Union put pressure on the Aşkabat administration during the 18th annual Human Rights Dialogue with Türkmenistan, urging it to close the glaring gap between its promises of opening up to the outside world and its domestic repressive policies. The high-level meeting held on 22 June in the Türkmen capital, Aşkabat, stands out as a significant part of the diplomatic relations between the two sides. This dialogue coincided with a period in which Türkmenistan has recently attempted to establish more visible, albeit limited, contacts with the outside world. The country had virtually maintained an isolated existence on the world stage for many years due to its strict visa policies and tight control over the media. The meeting is seen as a concrete reflection of the EU's strategy to deepen its relations with Central Asian countries by putting humanitarian and democratic concerns on the table.

In the background of the meeting lies Türkmenistan's recent, albeit small, unprecedented openings towards the outside world in recent months. In this context, the visit of a team from the renowned Reuters news agency to the country earlier this year, and the ability of journalists to travel and report freely without a state escort, went down in the country's history as an extremely extraordinary development. Although these may seem minor, the country's steps toward facilitating its visa regime, joining the World Trade Organization, and diversifying its state-centric economy are also drawing attention. However, for a country emerging from a borderless policy of isolation, it remains uncertain whether these steps are a sign of lasting and realistic reform. The international community and human rights organizations are closely watching whether this slight breeze will be enough to solve the country's deep and structural problems.

On the other hand, the country's picture in the field of human rights and freedoms still bears a highly dark and restrictive character. International independent organizations continue to describe Türkmenistan as one of the most closed regimes in the world; for journalists, civil society organizations, and political dissidents, the country is virtually an open-air prison. This situation has been confirmed by the country's ranking of 173rd out of 180 countries in the 2026 Global Press Freedom Index. At the meeting, the EU delegation requested concrete steps from Türkmenistan to take stronger anti-discrimination measures in the public sphere and to combat gender-based violence more effectively. Furthermore, the definitive criminalization of domestic violence to protect women and the decriminalization of consensual same-sex relations were among the main demands insistently brought to the agenda by the European Union.

One of the most sensitive issues raised during the dialogue meeting was severe labor violations in the country, such as forced labor and child labor. The EU expressed satisfaction over Türkmenistan's cooperation with the International Labour Organization (ILO), particularly to eradicate forced labor and child labor in the cotton sector; because this sector had been one of the Western countries' biggest subjects of criticism towards the country for years. While the situation of human rights defenders and allegations of transnational repression were also discussed, the EU delegation handed over a detailed list of individual cases believed to have been violated to the Türkmen government. Inhumane conditions in prisons, allegations of torture and ill-treatment, and enforced disappearances stood out as other urgent issues the EU expects Aşkabat to resolve by increasing its cooperation with civil society. Meanwhile, the steps taken by Türkmenistan to reduce the problem of statelessness were welcomed, but the removal of bureaucratic barriers preventing Türkmen citizens abroad from equally accessing basic consular services was also conveyed as an urgent demand.

All these developments reveal the multidimensional and relatively complex strategy pursued by the European Union towards Türkmenistan. While the Brussels administration seeks to engage more actively with Aşkabat through strategic partnerships and energy ties, just as in the rest of Central Asia, it takes care not to drop sensitive issues like human rights from its formal agenda. Even for the Türkmenistan administration, it can be said that such limited dialogues and small windows opening to the outside world create a perception of progress and change for the country. However, for the European Union and international human rights organizations, the main challenge is whether these superficial flexibilities in the country can truly trigger an institutional and lasting internal transformation. The next round of human rights-focused diplomatic negotiations between the two sides is planned to be held in 2027, in Brussels, the heart of Europe.