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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Turkmenistan
Index
The criminal justice system of Turkmenistan is deeply rooted in Soviet
institutions and practices. Its Committee for National Security, headed by
chairman Saparmurad Seidov, retains essentially the same functions,
operations, and personnel of the Soviet-era KGB. As it did in the Soviet
period, the Ministry of Internal Affairs continues to direct the
operations of police departments and to work closely with the Committee
for National Security on matters of national security.
The national police force, estimated to include 25,000 personnel, is
under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The force is
located in cities and settlements throughout the country, with garrisons
in Ashgabat, Gyzylarbat, and Dashhowuz. Police departments do not have an
investigative function in Turkmenistan; that role is filled by the
procurator's offices in Ashgabat and other cities (see Criminal Justice,
this ch.). The police role is confined to routine maintenance of public
order and to certain administrative tasks such as controlling the internal
passport regime, issuing visas for foreign travel, and registering foreign
guests.
At the national level, the primary security concerns are prevention of
trafficking in drugs and other illegal commodities, and combatting
organized and international crime. In December 1994, Turkmenistan's
Committee for National Security and the Russian Federation's Foreign
Intelligence Service (a successor agency to the KGB) signed a five-year
agreement for cooperation in state security and mutual protection of the
political, economic, and technological interests of the two states.
Data as of March 1996
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