The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has refuted claims about discussions regarding the suspension of visa issuance to citizens of Turkmenistan. Earlier, this information was reported by "Chronicles of Turkmenistan" citing its own sources.
It was alleged that the temporary suspension of visas was being discussed in connection with the recent terrorist attack at "Crocus City Hall," which led to a tightening of migration policies in Russia. Observers from turkmen.news noted that if such negotiations were indeed taking place, it could be at Turkmenistan's initiative, using the terrorist attack as a pretext to reduce the migration flow. Previously, Turkmen authorities had already succeeded in introducing visas for Turkmen citizens in Turkey.
The Ministry stated, "The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan are not conducting any discussions/negotiations on tightening the regime of bilateral trips for citizens." The denial used the terms "fake" and "plant" and claimed that both "Chronicles of Turkmenistan" and turkmen.news were allegedly engaged, mentioning the publication of colleagues in the background of one of their materials. The statement emphasized turkmen.news's connection to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), recognized as undesirable in Russia, and detailed the sources of funding for this organization.
It is worth noting that we advocate for Turkmenistan's transparency and the expansion of relations with all countries worldwide, including Russia. Our material primarily addressed the suspension of ticket sales to Russia by the Turkmen side, which, according to numerous complaints, is indeed being observed. We have repeatedly emphasized in our publications that Turkmenistan is the only CIS country with a visa regime with the Russian Federation, which cannot be considered normal.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs particularly lamented that information about visas was republished by one of the Russian online publications, which later deleted the news. It was emphasized that over the past two weeks, the consular department of the Russian embassy in Turkmenistan issued 566 study visas, and for April 2024 alone, more than 1000 people have been scheduled for appointments to process visas in this category.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other authorized bodies of Turkmenistan have not commented on the situation, as well as any other sensitive topics.
