Turkmen Forces Clash With IEA Along Jawzjan Border

T-ban officials reported that a skirmish broke out between IEA and Turkmen forces along the #Turkmenistan border in Jawzjan province yesterday. Not many details have been provided nor confirmed, but IEA officials claimed to Hasht-e Subh news that Turkmen forces killed a civilian along the border on New Years and clashes broke out when IEA forces went to go investigate a couple days later. #Turkmenistan called the claims “unproven and false” while Afghan Foreign Affairs Minister Abdul Qahar Balkhi walked back on previous statements and tweeted “Reports about skirmish on #Afghanistan-Turkmenistan border are untrue. There exists no problems between us & our neighbor Turkmenistan, & we seek constructive & positive relations with all world countries including friendly nation Turkmenistan through diplomatic means.

Turkman Forces. Images provide by Reuters and Google

The Turkmans are a Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, living mainly in Turkmenistan, northern and northeastern regions of Iran and north-western Afghanistan. Sizeable groups of Turkmens are found also in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and the North Caucasus (Stavropol Krai). They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Eastern Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages. Examples of other Oghuz languages are Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai, Gagauz, Khorasani and Salar. Officially the “Armed Forces of Turkmenistan“, is the national military of Turkmenistan. It consists of the Ground Forces, the Air Force and Air Defense Forces, Navy, and other independent formations (etc. Border TroopsInternal Troops, and National Guard). After the fall of the Soviet Union, significant elements of the Soviet Armed Forces Turkestan Military District remained on Turkmen soil, including several motor rifle divisions. From V.I. Feskov et al. 2013 and Michael Holm’s data, it appears that the three divisions were the 58th, 88th, and 209th District Training Centre (former 61 Training MRD) at Ashkhabad.[6] In June 1992, the new Russian government signed a bilateral defense treaty with Turkmenistan, encouraging the new Turkmen government to create its own armed forces but stipulating that they were to be placed under joint command.

 

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