Khwarezm

Turkmenistan's Silk Road heritage kept under wraps

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• published: 02 Aug 2015
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Despite its rich heritage that was mostly established in the Middle Ages by Muslim dynasties such as the Khwarezm Shahs and Seljuks, many obstacles complicate Turkmenistan's tourism development such as government bureaucracy. The places that were once referred to as the center of the Islamic world, including the preserved oasis city of Merv and Konye-Urgench, suffer as a result The towering minaret and mausoleums of Konye-Urgench in isolated Turkmenistan cut striking forms against the desert sky, yet few foreign visitors make it to the site that was once at the center of the Islamic world. Like the fabled Silk Road cities of Samarkand and Bukhara in neighboring Uzbekistan, Konye-Urgench's rich historical legacy is sheltered behind the borders of a secretive former communist Central Asian state that creates significant obstacles to tourism. "People come here from as far away as Australia, New Zealand and Chile," said Aman Amanov, a state guide at the dusty UNESCO world heritage site. But he said only 3,000 of the 200,000 annual visitors to the site, which claimed UNESCO status in 2005, are international tourists – between a quarter and a fifth of the volume state officials say Turkmenistan welcomes in a year. "The Turkmen visa was the most elusive of them all," said Charlie Grosso, a photographer and travel writer, who visited the country in 2012. She traveled to the isolated state as part of the Mongol Rally, a 10,000-mile journey for charity during which motorists travel from Western Europe to Mongolia, traditionally in small, inexpensive vehicles. Grosso said she spent nearly half a day dealing with port officials after crossing the Caspian Sea from Azerbaijan. "The people are lovely – we were given multiple melons during our trip," she told Agence France-Presse (AFP). "But you are basically faced with this unyielding bureaucracy at every turn. You really feel the presence of the state." One of the five Central Asian republics to gain independence from Moscow in 1991, the country of 5 million people is famous for its eccentric leaders, vast gas reserves and secrecy. But Turkmenistan has had to grapple with a drop in global hydrocarbon prices and is looking for other sources of revenue, like tourism. In April, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said the government needs to diversify the economy and curb spending. In a recent shakeup, he dismissed several senior officials overseeing the economy after the fall in prices in gas and oil – which make up more than 90 percent of its exports. The country also steeply devalued its currency, the manat. In a guide available in English, Russian and Turkmen provided to visitors of Konye-Urgench, a message from Berdymukhamedov reads: "Our duty in front of our forefathers is not only to preserve these riches, but to make them accessible to the whole world." Located 480 kilometers north of the white marble-clad capital, Ashgabat, Konye-Urgench was a seat of power for the medieval Khorezm kingdom, whose Muslim rulers controlled much of Central Asia in the 12th century after emerging from the shadow of the mighty Seljuk Empire. Even after Genghis Khan's armies razed the city in 1221, Konye-Urgench became one of the most important economic hubs along the Silk Road trade routes carrying riches from China and India to markets in Europe. UNESCO credits the government of Turkmenistan with generally good conservation practices, and calls Merv, another listed settlement in the country, "the oldest and most completely preserved of the oasis cities along the Silk Roads in Central Asia." Little is done, however, to ease access to the historic sites for foreign visitors. The most commonly-issued visa for visitors to the country is a five-day transit visa, with longer stays generally requiring a state-endorsed tour and guides such as Amanov, who stick to the script and steer clear of politics. "Ultimately, only a more open Turkmenistan might aspire to be a tourist destination," said Luca Anceschi, a Central Asia expert at the University of Glasgow, who called Turkmenistan's visa regime "one of the most intractable on earth."