Although the Government of Turkmenistan claims to favor trade with and export to the United States and Turkey, it has significant commercial relationships with Russia and Iran and a growing cross-border trade with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The Government of Turkmenistan often appears to be trying to use the conflicting interests of these regional partners as a means to extract concessions from the others, especially on energy issues. Turkmenistan has poor relations with Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan.
Disputes - international: Caspian Sea boundaries are not yet determined among Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan
Illicit drugs: limited illicit cultivator of opium poppy, mostly for domestic consumption; limited government eradication program; increasingly used as transshipment point for illicit drugs from Southwest Asia to Russia and Western Europe; also a transshipment point for acetic anhydride destined for Afghanistan.
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