Institutional Structure of Russia-Turkmenistan Humanitarian Cooperation

The aim of this paper is to identify the institutions, via which Russia–Turkmenistan humanitarian cooperation (including ties in culture, education, science, sport and tourism) is carried out, as well as their types and symmetry. The analysis of such sources as diplomatic agreements, interviews, documents and news archives of state institutions and non-governmental organizations, and Russian and Turkmen media, demonstrates that humanitarian cooperation between the two states is rather institutionalized, with state institutions prevailing in the structure of cooperation. This is an implication of mutual interest, on the one hand, and of high level of coordination and control of the states over their contacts, on the other hand. The author highlights the number of state and non-state institutions. Due to the authoritarian and closed character of Turkmen state regime, Russian expatriate community in Turkmenistan is limited in its actions, while Turkmen expatriate community in Russia demonstrates a number of culture-related initiatives. Russian state agencies and non-governmental organizations are allowed to carry out a minimum of activities in Turkmenistan. Thus, we can witness the evident asymmetry of the institutional structure of bilateral cooperation. In order to develop bilateral humanitarian cooperation, Russia and Turkmenistan will need more compromises, and the most essential aspect will be to use every opportunity of direct humanitarian exchanges in culture, sport, education or tourism, to let their international communication stay proactive.