New U.S. Embassy Chief in Turkmenistan to Continue Building Ties

The United States has a new top diplomat in Ashgabat who is expected to continue what Turkmenistan calls the “positive momentum” in ties between the two countries. Kristin Hawkins assumed duties as chargé d’affaires ad interim at the U.S. Embassy in Ashgabat after Elizabeth Rood completed her tour as ambassador this month, the embassy said. Hawkins will lead the embassy until a permanent ambassador is appointed. Hawkins joined the Foreign Service in 2011 and served as U.S. consul general in Lahore, Pakistan, from 2023 to 2025, according to the embassy. Her other postings included senior Georgia desk officer at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, deputy spokesperson at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, and political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. Hawkins and Rashid Meredov, Turkmenistan’s foreign minister, met on Wednesday and “reaffirmed their mutual interest in further strengthening constructive Turkmen-U.S. cooperation,” Turkmenistan’s Foreign Ministry said. During her two-year tenure as ambassador, Rood helped develop the U.S. partnership with Turkmenistan as part of Washington’s trade and diplomatic outreach across Central Asia. At a farewell meeting, Rood and Meredov noted “the positive momentum” in U.S.-Turkmen cooperation in recent years, according to the Turkmen government. During her two-year tenure as ambassador, Rood was involved in building up the U.S. partnership with Turkmenistan as part of Washington’s wider trade and diplomatic outreach to countries in Central Asia. At a farewell meeting, Rood and Meredov commented on “the positive momentum” in U.S.-Turkmen cooperation in recent years, according to the Turkmen government.

Turkmenistan Seeks Bigger Counter-Terrorism Role in Central Asia

Turkmenistan wants to host a United Nations counter-terrorism facility that would contribute to cooperation among Central Asian countries, whose security concerns have included online radicalization, instability in Afghanistan, and the repatriation of citizens from Syria and Iraq. Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov discussed the initiative with Alexandre Zouev, a Russian diplomat who is acting under-secretary-general of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), during a visit by Turkmenistan’s top diplomat to the United States last week. In the May 28 meeting, the Turkmen delegation provided details about the plan to establish a program office of UNOCT in Ashgabat, according to the ministry. It said the office “will become a key analytical and expert platform in the region.” Such offices in host countries have a minimum of three staff members, for example, the office head, a project manager, and an administrator, and often rely on funding from the host nation, according to UNOCT, which is based at U.N. headquarters in New York.  The offices focus on “capacity-building projects and activities” with a focus on the country or region, the office said. In 2022, U.N. counter-terrorism officials helped to set up what they described as an early warning network with representatives from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The mechanism promotes regional information-sharing. Besides governments, it involves civil society organizations and academics. Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan share borders with Afghanistan, where continuing security problems have slowed Central Asian efforts to develop trade routes in deals with the ruling Taliban movement. Chinese interests in Tajikistan have been targeted by cross-border attacks in the past year. Tajikistan’s security forces have stepped up patrols on the border, which is challenging to monitor because of the remote, mountainous terrain. Several Central Asian countries have also organized the repatriation of their citizens from conflict zones in Iraq and Syria. Former male fighters who joined Islamic militant groups can face close monitoring and jail time, while women and children tend to be viewed as victims in need of humanitarian support. U.N. officials have also collaborated on counter-terrorism concerns in Central Asia with the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a regional group that includes Russia and has focused heavily on the threat of extremist infiltration from Afghanistan.