The International Report: Turkmenistan's "New World" & The Conflict Thus Far

[1LT (Ret) Mallory]

The International Report
November 7th, 2022

Turkmenistan's "New World"; The Conflict Thus Far



The evening is kept alight by oil fields set ablaze after a clash between the NWRC and coalition forces

MARY, TURKMENISTAN- Several months have passed since the ratification of UN Resolution 2637, which sought to bring emergency humanitarian aid to the Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan in an effort to stabilise the region and quell a bloody revolution taking place within its borders. TIR has been on the ground and in the country covering the events leading up to the current conflict which warranted the resolution's passing. Now with a clearer picture, we here at the Report, feel a journalistic duty to update our readers on what has taken place since the first shots rang out in this “New World”. 

On July 10th, 2022 a live broadcast was made via the Turkmen National News featuring two men, identifying themselves as Malek Isaev al-Hameed and Colonel Dusun Wassem el-Faris, who proceeded to announce that:

"...those responsible for the systematic oppression under the Murtazayev regime and its self-serving fools have been routed from their seats of power, and the Murtazayev family purged from existence... The formation of the New World Turkmenian Youth Party was completed yesterday, with one of our most important missions beginning today- which is to return that which was kept from the Turkmen people."

The two men also summarised several of the other events that had taken place in Turkmenistan in the weeks leading up to the broadcast. The New World Turkmenia Youth Party's officially claimed responsibility for their role in the resignation and subsequent assassination of the long-standing Turkmen ruler Usmon Murtazayev. The NWTYP also claimed responsibility for the removal and supposed execution of the former leader's son, Stepan Murtazayev. Stepan had been recently elected president of Turkmenistan, however, the elections came under scrutiny and condemnation from the larger international community as being undemocratic and "rigged". The two Youth Party representatives also denounced the UN's slated peacekeeping mission to the country, with a clear ultimatum and warning of hostile conflict & civil unity against the peacekeeping mission as a result of "Western interventionism".

"Any foreign forces, officially sanctioned by their nation's colours or otherwise, or any mercenary not directed by control of the New World Turkmenia Youth Party or the New World Revolutionary Corps will be considered an enemy of the state, aiding or providing assistance to those we seek to purge from the nation's lands, and will be killed or captured, and the ensuing justice will be swift and unyielding..."

At the time, there were unconfirmed reports detailing a mass exodus of what are described as "loyalists" within the Turkmen Armed Forces who were gathering in the west, and are believed to have been among those targeted for persecution and expulsion by the New World Youth Party. It was approximately around the same time that the "first shots" of this conflict were fired. On July 12th, 2022, a Twitter account calling itself "Bu Hakykat" published a single video that appeared to document an ambush on UN forces, the video was swiftly taken down for violating the Twitter TOS as the contents were extremely violent. The footage depicted a group of armed and organised militants taking part in urban combat in a part of the town of Zahmet. Subsequently, on July 13th 2022, UN Secretary-General António Guterres confirmed that in fact, an ambush on UN forces had taken place in the town of Zahmet.

At least thirty-six personnel conducting peacekeeping operations in the proximity of Zahmet, Turkmenistan were killed, while "several others" locations at the time were unaccounted for. Multiple vehicles including those loaded down with supplies were also confirmed to be completely destroyed. Rumours of additional raids and multiple reports of similar engagements with armed militants poured in from across Turkmenistan.

In the first weeks of August, U.S. forces began to arrive as part of the UNOTURM joint effort to assist in distributing humanitarian aid and provide security for said distribution efforts. Distribution began in earnest and as expected was met with heavy resistance southeast of Mary. What began as small-arms skirmishes targeting security details, quickly escalated to full-blown conflict with the use of land and air vehicles on both sides.

Inevitably, as with all armed conflicts, collateral damage began occurring quickly after the fighting started. Oil fields set ablaze appearing on Turkmen social media was attributed to U.S. efforts in villages southeast of Mary. Tragically, in one incident, dozens of civilian casualties occurred in one of the villages caught in the crossfire between UNOTURM forces and the NWRC. The NWRC and several Turkmen social media outlets in the country also claimed:

-“The blood of our countrymen has bathed the hands of the Western aggressors.”

Following this specific incident the NWRC also boasted a massive spike in recruitment, stating: 

-“...many brothers have begun to seek out arms to aid in driving these invaders from our land.”

However, responsibility for civilian deaths attributed to the conflict does not rest solely on Western forces, as reports detailing the barbaric treatment at times of captives and even indigenous people unwilling to join in the fighting or provide direct support to the New World fighters. Reports of extrajudicial killings, human shields, and other egregious war crimes and human rights abuses have been reported from the onset of hostilities, and spiked when UN peacekeeping forces entered the country across its northern border with Uzbekistan.

While the UN commitment to the UNOTURM initiative in Turkmenistan has remained the prominent focus of the United Nations Security Council, the support of neighbouring nations has plummeted over the course of the mission. Beginning with massive riots in northern Uzbekistan the same week as the initial force of regionally-led UN forces entered Turkmenistan resulted in a sizable diversion of Uzbek pledged peacekeepers to respond. Though to imply an actual connection exists between the suffering in Turkmenistan is part of a larger, coordinated effort to enact widespread change throughout this part of the world would be a stretch, it is evident that the events in Turkmenistan are creating a "domino effect" of a wide variety of protests, demonstrations, and revolutionary precursors across this part of the world, whether by mere coincidence, or citizens and outlying ethnic groups simply inspired by the events occurring.

It was also long feared that Iranian involvement in Turkmenistan via IRGC material support was inevitable, though, with recent civil uprisings across the country due to the wrongful death of a female journalist, it has become apparent that domestic issues have taken the regime's focus off of a possible proxy war with the west, however temporary, hosted by an already deteriorated situation throughout Turkmenistan that would only have drawn out the fighting and intensified violence across the country and the region over.

Progress by UNOTURM forces across Turkmenistan has been criticised as slow and cumbersome, with the original timeline for the operation projected to conclude by the end of the year. However, the fighting just to begin to retake the capital of Ashgabat had offset that projection by several weeks alone, made even worse by a second uprising within the remaining Turkmen Armed Forces, who had withdrawn from the capital in the days following the revolution on July 5th, using the M37 to head towards the Caspian Sea in an effort to regroup. Initial reports by both UN and US forces operating as a part of UN WHITE, the part of the UNOTURM mission aimed at pacifying and restoring control of the capital to the people, cited that TAF forces were actively engaging UN and coalition forces throughout the villages to the west and northwest of the city.

This second uprising resulted in several hundred TAF soldiers killed in the city of Balkanabat, and the rest of them striking their colours and attacking UN peacekeeping forces on the western approach of the M37 as they attempted to secure it. Around a hundred surviving TAF soldiers surrendered to UN forces near Turkmenbashi just over a week ago- and initial reports tell a gruesome story of how a small number of soldiers initiated a "green-on-blue" attack that took the entire force garrisoned in Balkanabat by surprise and seemed to have dealt a catastrophic blow to the TAF's efforts to coordinate a counterattack against the New World regime. The surrendering TAF forces have since claimed that a split in the ranks regarding the decision to carry out operations against the UN- and specifically US forces, was believed to be the main motivator for the insider attack that had split their garrison, citing "all that is left of them now are fanatics and fools, as is any man who follows them".

Recently, US-led peacekeeping forces have reported progress throughout the Mary Province, despite the significant increase in fighting and the amount of military hardware being reported throughout the province. Last week, a spokesperson with the UN, confirmed by the 101st Airborne Public Affairs Office reported that a major area southwest of the ancient city of Mary, including in and around Kirov, a city-village southwest of Mary, has been secured by US forces and that humanitarian relief operations are proceeding smoothly, in spite of the manpower and resource shortages by the UN.

The ground gained and security ensured by the UNOTURM mission have not been met without losses themselves- just last week, United States Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that a single UH-60 helicopter with the US Army's 101st Aviation Regiment was shot down by hostile fighters utilising a shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missile launcher during combat operations in southern Mary near the city of Kirov. While the aircraft was a catastrophic loss, the pilots and flight crew themselves sustained only minor injuries and were able to safely regroup with nearby US forces. 


CENTCOM confirmed last week that a US Army Blackhawk helicopter was shot down in the vicinity of Zor-Khalata, approximately 30 miles southwest of the city of Kirov, located in Mary Province, Turkmenistan as part of the US/UN-led mission to provide humanitarian assistance and security to the country in the face of de facto civil conflict and ensuing strife as civilians are caught in between the internal power struggle of the old and new regimes.

Despite the loss of the Army helicopter, US forces in Mary Province would seem to have doubled down on their efforts to take and hold ground in the region this past week, with the most recent reports claiming the successful seizure of two airfields in the central plateau area near Severkuldzha, which has been deemed a major blow to the capability of the Turkmen "New World" revolutionary forces throughout the province.

With no talks of any potential of a ceasefire on either side, the number of civilian casualties will tragically continue to rise. We at the International Report paradoxically are certain of only one truth regarding the conflict, Turkmenistan’s “New World” has begun with an unending night, with dawn’s enigmatic arrival only eclipsed by its uncertainty.

AUTHORIZED FOR DISTRIBUTION BY 1-506th S-2
Reviewed By: 1LT Jason Mallory, CW2 Juan Reynoso