Four days after the invasion of the Russian troops into Ukraine, Turkmen media outlets as well as the Embassy of Turkmenistan have still not provided any reports on the current situation.
“Chronicles of Turkmenistan” has so far failed to make contact with the Embassy of Turkmenistan in Kyiv.
According to correspondents of “Chronicles of Turkmenistan”, on the evening of 26 February about 40 Turkmen nationals had arrived at the Ukrainian-Polish border and spent the night outside in subzero temperatures. Many refugees from Ukraine congregated at the border checkpoint. It remains unknown if the Turkmen nationals managed to cross the border.
A source of “Chronicles of Turkmenistan” reports that Turkmenistan’s Foreign Ministry has contacted Belarus and Poland with a request to accept Turkmen nationals on its territories. It was emphasized that they be accorded the status of internally displaced persons, not refugee status.
Belarus refused to admit Turkmen nationals allegedly because of the closed border with Ukraine. Poland’s response has not yet been received.
Negotiations with Turkey’s Foreign Ministry, which is repatriating its nationals in buses via Romania and Bulgaria, are underway.
The Turkmen Helsinki Foundation reports that Turkmen nationals who visited the Consulate in person “faced traditional silence”.
In order to draw the attention of the authorities to their problems, Turkmen nationals have made a list of fellow citizens “who are in trouble”, giving their personal and contact details, which will be sent to Turkmenistan’s Embassy in Kyiv.
The human rights activists from the THF have also received a copy of the list.
A correspondent of Radio “Azatlyk” (Radio Liberty/Free Europe) managed to call the diplomatic mission. A staff member said that diplomats are now working on evacuating their fellow citizens to neighbouring countries.
“Our telephones are working and we spare no effort to provide assistance to our fellow citizens, and also try to evacuate our nationals to neighbouring countries. However, under current circumstances it is impossible to act independently and we operate based on local conditions”,- the diplomat was quoted as saying.
The Embassy official did not give any other details.
The Embassies of neighbouring Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan regularly provide updated reports on the latest situation and are trying to repatriate their nationals via other countries.
The news outlet Turkmen News reports referring to an entrepreneur and blogger Berdy Begmenov that it took 10 and a half hours for a group of 20 Turkmen students to walk to the Polish border which they tried to cross. “Some in the group managed to do so”, – the news outlet reports.
However, a consul named Serdar said that Berdy Begmenov, who helps his fellow citizens to cross the border in an attempt to flee the war, is engaged in “unlawful activities”.
However, not all Turkmen nationals headed to the border or wish to leave Ukraine. Some Turkmen nationals who are now in Kyiv told a correspondent of “Chronicles of Turkmenistan” that, together with local inhabitants they seek shelter in metro stations and basements. They have no intention to depart Ukraine and return to Turkmenistan.
If you are in Ukraine, we kindly ask you to complete our survey in the Telegram channel of “Chronicles of Turkmenistan”.
You do not have to subscribe to the channel in order To fill in the questionnaire.The post Turkmenistan’s Foreign Ministry intends to evacuate their citizens from Ukraine via third countries but does not officially report on the situation first appeared on Chronicles of Turkmenistan.