[CivilSoc] Turkmen Authorities Deny Apartment-Confiscation Story

[Moderator]

from Vol. 3, No. 25, 7 July 2003 of RFE/RL MEDIA MATTERS, reprinted by
permission of RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
AUTHORITIES ACCUSES DEUTSCHE WELLE OF DISSEMINATING FALSE INFORMATION.
The Turkmen authorities have accused Deutsche Welle of disseminating false
information because of a report on the confiscations by Turkmen security
officers of apartments inhabited by holders of dual Russian-Turkmen
citizenship, turkmenistan.ru reported on 1 July. The Deutsche Welle report
sparked investigations by Russian media that confirmed and added detail to
the story.
According to turkmenistan.ru, the Turkmen Foreign Ministry has sent a note
to its German counterpart, expressing "serious concern" over Deutsche Welle
broadcasts concerning the termination of dual citizenship and particularly
the apartment-confiscation story. The Foreign Ministry's note calls the
story "a flagrant falsification intended to deliberately distort reality and
create an atmosphere of distrust in Turkmen society." After accusing
Deutsche Welle of taking an active part in a purported propaganda campaign
against "independent, neutral Turkmenistan," the note asks the German
Foreign Ministry to take measures to prevent the German media from reporting
"slanderous material" against Turkmenistan. Similar demands have  been made
of the Russian authorities.
Arkadii Dubnov, a well-known specialist on Turkmenistan, reported having
learned that the confiscation of homes of dual citizens began after Turkmen
President Saparmurat Niyazov issued his 22 April decree on the    revocation
of dual citizenship. Dual citizens who applied for exit visas in their
Turkmen passports were targeted. Other journalists reported receiving lists
of persons driven from their Ashgabat homes, and letters asserting that this
had happened to the letter writers themselves or to their relatives.
("RFE/RL Newsline," 30 June and 2 July)