Exiled Turkmen opposition to return home for elections
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 13 July 2011 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Exiled Turkmen opposition to return home for elections, 13 July 2011, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4e39054ac.html [accessed 22 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
July 13, 2011
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov: on the line with his exiled political opponents?
Leaders of Turkmenistan's exiled opposition say they plan to accept President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov's invitation to return home and participate in elections next year.
Nurmukhammet Khanamov, the Vienna-based chairman of the Republican Party of Turkmenistan, and colleague Khudaiberdy Orazov said in a statement that they would need guarantees of safe passage in order to return home.
They expressed hope that their return to Turkmen political life could lead to a democratic transition, saying in a statement, "We belive this is an attempt to revise the current form of government which was inherited" from former ruler Saparmurat Niyazov.
Khanamov and Orazov were sentenced in absentia for their alleged involvement in a 2002 assassination plot against Niyazov, who was then the country's president.
compiled from agency reports
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
