Background: Present-day Turkmenistan covers territory that has
been at the crossroads of civilizations for centuries. The area
was ruled in antiquity by various Persian empires, and was
conquered by Alexander the Great, Muslim crusaders, the Mongols,
Turkic warriors, and eventually the Russians. In medieval times
Merv (today known as Mary) was one of the great cities of the
Islamic world and an important stop on the Silk Road. Annexed by
Russia in the late 1800s, Turkmenistan later figured prominently
in the anti-Bolshevik movement in Central Asia. In 1924,
Turkmenistan became a Soviet republic; it achieved independence
upon the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. Extensive
hydrocarbon/natural gas reserves, which have yet to be fully
exploited, have begun to transform the country. Turkmenistan is
moving to expand its extraction and delivery projects. The
Turkmen Government is actively working to diversify its gas
export routes beyond the still important Russian pipeline
network. In 2010, new gas export pipelines