CASPIAN SEA AREA OF TURKMENISTAN

Turkmenistan lies along the Caspian Sea, which forms its entire western border for 1,768 kilometers (1,096 miles). There is a deep, almost circular indentation in the coast called the Kara-Bogaz Gol (Garabogazkol Gulf), with the Cheleken Peninsula further south. [Source: Geo-Data: The World Geographical Encyclopedia, Gale Group Inc., 2003]

The Caspian Sea is beautiful blue color. The shoreline however is not so attractive. It is an arid desert covered by grey dust and salt. There are great swaths of undeveloped coastline, where the water is clear and blue and camels can be spotted in the seaside dunes. Pollution is a problem around the oil and gas fields in the southern reaches of the lake.

But don’t be totally turned off. The coast of the Caspian Sea has some nice sandy beaches, warm and clean water for swimming and abundance of specialized flora and fauna. The city of Khazar and Awaza, a suburb of Turkmenbashi, offer water sports and recreation and have health resorts, sanatoriums and “preventoriums: that offer “prophylactic events for “different kinds of pneumonia” that are popular among the vacationers. Among the the coastal tourism recreation centers in the “beautiful subtropical zone of the country” are Sumbar valley with green trees and the famous old oaks in the village Magtymguly is located in Balkan province.

Most of the towns in the Caspian Sea area of Turkmenistan are dismal industrial towns. Among these are Chelken, with smelly chemical factories, and Bekdash, with a salt refining plant. Balkanabat (140 kilometers east of Turkmenbashi) is dull, dreary town on the main road and rail line between Ashgabat and Turkmenbashi. There is nothing here, except transportation to Dekhistan. Formerly known as Nebit-Dag, which means "oil mountain", it has been the center of the country's oil industry since the 1930s. The city is located at the foot of the Great Balkan mountain range and has a population of around 120,000.

Oil and Development by Turkmenistan on the Caspian Sea

Much of Turkmenistan’s oil and natural gas comes from the Caspian Sea region. Oil is found in the Caspian Sea’s Baku fields, which extends from east from Baku and is shared by Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. Large natural gas reserves in the eastern Caspian Sea are primarily in Turkmenistan's territory. Another significant source of Caspian oil is in Turkmenistan near the coast. By some estimates, Turkmenistan's Galkynysh field may be the world's fourth largest natural gas field.

Building pipelines that bypass the Russian system have been for countries like Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan to break free from of Russia’s grip and establish their independence. As it stands now the majority of Turkmenistan’s oil and natural gas is exported using Russia’s pipeline system or carried by tanker Baku in Azerbaijan, where there are pipelines across the Caucasus, Turkey and Eastern Europe to the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, where it can be loaded on tankers for easy delivery to Europe and to the United States.

Turkmenistan has the fourth largest natural gas reserves in the world. Much of Turkmenistan’s natural gas is in the eastern Caspian Sea. The United States has lobbied Turkmenistan, so far unsuccessfully, to build a pipeline across the Caspian Sea that would bypass Russian territory to deliver gas to the outside world. European countries have quietly supported the idea, which would reduce their dependence on Russia for supplies of natural gas. There has also been discussion of building an oil or gas pipeline from Turkmenistan across Iran to the Persian Gulf. This would greatly facilitate the export of oil to Asia.

Turkmenbashi

Turkmenbashi (on the Caspian Sea, 600 kilometers from Ashgabat) is Turkmenistan's largest port and the gateway for the overnight ferry to Baku, Azerbaijan. Named after Turkmenistan’s president, it is sleepy town with 86,000 people, many of the Russians, Armenians and Azeris. Situated below a crescent of mountains, it was established by the Russians as a place to launch their military campaigns in Central Asia. Worth checking out are Museum of regional History, the Moorish-style train station, and the former entrance to the fortress.

Turkmenbashi is one of the largest port in essentially landlocked Central Asia, providing a valuable link with European countries. The surrounding desert landscape looks more like a moon landscape. Most excursions into the mountains and the coastal resort towns begin from this dusty, and even somewhat sleepy town. There are some reasonable place to swim in the town and in Awaza 12 kilometers to the north (see Below) although the best beaches about 50 kilometers to the north. Hikes up into the mountains offer some wonderful views.

The islands on the bay are part of the Hazar State Nature Reserve (Khazaror Turkmenbashi State Reserve), which home to Caspian Sea turtles, seals and 280 species of bird, including flamingos, pelicans and variety of shorebirds. At reserve headquarters there is a small natural history museum (See Below).

Awaza

Awaza (12 kilometers Turkmenbashi city) is a resort in the east of the Caspian Sea that has been earmarked to become the national tourist zone of Turkmenistan. Located on the Caspian Sea, it boasts six top-end hotels and fancy health complexes. The plan calls for 60 hotels of different categories as well as children's health centers and sports, cultural and entertaining centers.

A seven-kilometer-long canal was excavated in the desert around which some restaurants and cafes have been set up. There are plans to build a skyscraper hotel complex in the form of peculiar lighthouse on an artificial island in the shape of a map of Turkmenistan. A huge aqua park with a sliding dome is on the drawing boards. The most ambitious plan calls for the the construction of an indoor ski complex that will cover an area of 20 hectares and house 1200-meter ski slope with three trails under an eight meters sheer dome. The snow depth will be a half meter to one meter. About 120 people can use the ski facility at one time. The original plans called the project to completed in 2020. But so far few people have shown up and it us unclear how far along with the construction they are.

The Telegraph newspaper called Awaza, “the most ill-conceived resort ever built”. Farangis Najibullah and Murat Gurban of Radio Free Europe wrote in 2012: “Just five years ago, Awaza stood as a tiny dacha retreat along the Caspian coast where Turkmen could take refuge from the daily hustle and bustle. But the rustic mud-brick cottages that once dotted the seaside have been swept away and replaced with gleaming, high-rise luxury hotels. Dusty dirt roads have given way to smooth asphalt highways and marble sidewalks. Natural beach surroundings have been sculpted into carefully manicured parks. Behold the transformed Awaza, a luxurious resort town that looms as the centerpiece of President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov's dreams of building world-class tourism infrastructure in Turkmenistan. Since taking office in 2006, Berdymukhammedov has channeled a reported $1.4 billion into the project, with Awaza accounting for a major slice of the pie. [Source: Farangis Najibullah and Murat Gurban, Radio Free Europe, July 19, 2012]

“But if Awaza was constructed on the adage of, "if you build it they will come," one thing is still missing from the equation — visitors. During a recent trip to the newly opened resort, an Radio Free Europe reporter did not have to fight off flocks of tourists clambering to vacation in luxury. The resort's eight ritzy hotels, rather, were largely empty. The listed prices appear reasonable by international resort standards. The Kerven Hotel, for example, offers a single-room package that includes a free breakfast, room service, access to tennis courts and a gym, a boat trip, and airport transfer for $50 per person per night. For a couple more dollars, a visitor could enjoy a massage, acupuncture therapy, an Internet connection, and even access to a modern medical center.

“But for domestic tourists like Oraz, who has visited Awaza's beaches for years, the resort prices are too steep. "I can't afford to stay a week in an Awaza hotel with my family of three," says the doctor from Ashgabat. "In addition to hotel prices, there are other fees to pay, like transport and food. So no, Awaza hotels are not for me." Oraz instead opts to stay 20 kilometers away in Turkmenbashi, where he pays a "fraction of Awaza hotel prices" for a private apartment-hotel, and drive to Awaza's beach.Despite excellent facilities, it appears that foreign visitors are not yet thronging to Awaza.

Hazar State Nature Reserve

Hazar State Nature Reserve (in the Turkmenbashi area) was nominated to be a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2009. The site consists of protected areas along the southeastern Caspian Sea, including Turkmenbashi, Balkhan, North Cheleken, and Mikhailov bays. The bays range from deep to shallow and are bordered by sandy and shelly spits. Several islands have halophytic vegetation and coastal marshes; the largest, Dagada, covers 120 hectares (297 acres). The climate is continental, with annual precipitation of only 100–120 millimeters (4–5 inches). Average temperatures range from -4°C (25°F) in January to 28°C (82°F) in July, with recorded extremes of -21°C (-6°F) and 47°C (117°F). [Source: Ministry of Nature Protection of Turkmenistan, UNESCO]

Five main aquatic plant species, including eelgrass, tassel-weed, pondweeds, and Arabis, grow in sandy areas at depths of up to 4–5 meters (13–16 feet). The bays also support 28 species of green algae, 11 species of red algae, and one species of brown algae. Hundreds of microscopic algae occur in the plankton and benthos. The reserve lies near Turkmenbashi, a port city of more than 80,000 people, where oil refining is a major industry. The Hazar State Nature Reserve was known as the Krasnovodskiy State Nature Reserve from 1968 to 1994. In 1994, the Ogurchinskiy Sanctuary was added.

The reserve covers 2,680.37 square kilometers (1,035 square miles), including 2,610.37 square kilometers (1,008 square miles) in the Hazar State Nature Reserve and 70 square kilometers (27 square miles) in the Ogurchinskiy State Sanctuary. Its coastal waters and shores provide feeding, migration, and wintering habitat for millions of waterbirds from Eurasia and Africa. The Central Asian and East African migration routes meet along the Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea.

The site is an Important Bird Area and lies on a major flyway for waterbirds breeding in western Siberia, Kazakhstan, and Central Asia. During the 20th century, an estimated 5–8 million waterbirds migrated along the eastern Caspian coast, while up to 800,000 wintered in the area. Between 1971 and 2005, winter counts of geese, swans, ducks, and Common Coot ranged from about 22,000 to 689,000 birds.

Common species include Common Coot (Fulica atra), Common Teal (Anas crecca), Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), Red-crested Pochard (Netta rufina), Common Pochard (Aythya ferina), and Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula). Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) and Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) also occur in some years. More than 25,000 Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus) may occur during migration and winter. A total of 296 bird species has been recorded, including 138 waterbird species.

The site also supports several rare and threatened aquatic species. These include the endangered Caspian Seal (Pusa caspica), near-threatened Caspian Lamprey (Caspiomyzon wagneri), endangered Fringebarbel Sturgeon (Acipenser nudiventris), Stellate Sturgeon (Acipenser stellatus), Russian Sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii), and European Sturgeon (Huso huso). The Beloribitsa (Stenodus leucichthys) is extinct in the wild.

Dehistan-Mishrian

Dehistan (30 kilometers east of the Caspian Sea, 140 kilometers south of Balkanabat, 280 kilometers southeast of Turkmenbashi, 560 kilometers west from Ashgabat) is a ruined Silk Road city that was at its height in the 11th century, survived the Mongol invasion and thrived until 15th century when an ecological disaster cut off its supplies of water and made the city into a ghost town. There isn’t much left except for mud-brick foundations and the remains of a minaret. About seven kilometers away is a cemetery with some ruined mausoleums and Turkmenistan’s oldest mosque.

Dehistan-Mishrian was nominated to be a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1998. Dehistan, also called Mishrian, was the principal city of western Turkmenistan from the 10th to the 14th centuries. It stood on a major caravan route between Gurgan in northern Iran and Khorezm. Many of its finest buildings were constructed under the Khorezmshahs. Surviving monuments include parts of a minaret built by Abu Bini Ziyard in 1004–1005 and another built about 200 years later as part of the mosque of Muhammad Khorezmshah. The later monument still has a richly decorated portal 18 meters (59 feet) high. Dehistan was heavily fortified with two rows of walls and covered about 2 square kilometers (0.8 square miles). The city declined and was abandoned in the 15th century. [Source: Ministry of Culture, Government of the Republic of Turkmenistan, UNESCO]

About 7 kilometers (4 miles) north is the Meshat, or Meskhet, cemetery. In the 19th century, about 20 mausoleums were still preserved there. Five survive today, including the important Shir Kabir mosque and mausoleum, which has an elaborately decorated mihrab made of carved and colored stucco. The area also contains important archaeological sites dating to the 3rd millennium BC.

The Misrian plateau is now a smooth, barren plain in the southeastern Caspian region, but it was once a fertile oasis. Aerial views, especially in the early morning light, reveal traces of an ancient irrigation system, including channels and rectangular irrigated fields. Researchers believe crops ranging from wheat to rice were grown there. Evidence shows that the lands around Dehistan were used for about 3,000 years, although not continuously. Fields were sometimes abandoned and later cultivated again. [Source: State Committee for Tourism of Turkmenistan]

Archaeologists have identified three main periods in the history of the Dehistan oasis. The first began in the Bronze Age in the 2nd millennium BC and continued until the end of antiquity, before the fall of the Parthian state, when the area was known as Hyrcania. The second period covered the 3rd to 7th centuries AD under the Sassanids. Various pastoral groups, including ancient Turkic tribes, settled in the area, leaving large burial mounds across the Misrian plateau. The third period, from the 8th to the 14th centuries, left the most extensive remains. The ruins of medieval Dehistan show the scale of the former urban area before the water sources that supported it dried up.

A caravan route between Khorezm and Persia followed the ancient bed of the Amu Darya, known as the Uzboy, which once flowed into the Caspian Sea and passed through Dehistan. The medieval Arab historian Al-Makdisi recorded 24 settlements in Dehistan, while archaeologists have identified about 40. Some were as large as major medieval cities. Dehistan was notable for its fortifications, architecture, construction techniques, and numerous monumental buildings. These features place it alongside major ancient cultural centers such as Merv, Gurganj, and Samarkand. Unlike many cities in Khorasan, where raw brick was widely used, Dehistan made extensive use of fired brick in both public buildings and houses. The surviving monuments at Mashad-Misrian show that Dehistan had a distinctive architectural style and character.

Dehistan-Mishrian Archaeological Site

The settlement of Mashad-Misrian is the largest monument of medieval Dehistan. According to Arabic manuscripts that have reached our times, the capital city of Misrian was also called Dehistan since the 9th century. Its central part surrounded with a double defense wall with semicircular towers and a moat occupies about 2 square kilometers. It is the classic fortification, to which the extensive suburban area (rabad) consisting of artisan quarters, where one can still see many remains of pottery shops and foundations of several mosques and caravanserais, adjoined from four sides. [Source: State Committee for Tourism of Turkmenistan]

Gardens and parks and the marketplace were located in the southern rabad, and the traces of the dense residential buildings are seen in the western part. The eastern and southern rabads were most densely populated. There ran irrigation canals and the main canal, which provided the town with water. There was also a madrasah, the only known in Turkmenistan, which dates back to the pre-Mongol period. The abundance of earthenware products with ornamental and scenic painting is the distinctive feature of archaeological finds in Dehistan. Bronze pots, lamps and other metal products with artistic treatment, and a number of glass articles were also found here.

Improvements made in the city demonstrate the high level of development of Dehistan's urban culture. There were found the water supply and sewerage systems, bathhouses, brick-paved roads. This city had a boom period under the rule of Khorezm shahs, then suffered from the Mongols, but soon revived again and was finally deserted by the inhabitants about six centuries ago. From its architecture there remained the ruins of only a few impressive buildings having a considerable artistic value today as the vivid examples of Islamic culture. First, it is a mosque of Mohammed II, Shah of Khorezm, and two minarets next to it. There are also several medieval mausoleums in the ancient cemetery seven kilometers away from the settlement. Standing on a high platform, the funeral mosque Mashad-ata with the magnificent décor of very fine work dating from the 9th-10thcenturies stands out among them. This truly unique monument often called Shir-Kabir, along with the Samanids' Mausoleum in Bukhara built in the same period, marks the beginning of the classical period in the architecture of the whole Central Asia.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Turkmenistan tourism sites, Turkmenistan government websites, UNESCO, Wikipedia, Wikitravel, Lonely Planet guides, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, National Geographic, The New Yorker, Bloomberg, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Japan News, Yomiuri Shimbun, Compton's Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.

Updated in August 2020