While no sitting British Monarch has ever visited Central Asia, the new King of the United Kingdom, as well as 14 other countries, has explored our favourite destination – Turkmenistan – back when he was merely the Prince of Wales.
The then Prince of Wales arrived in Ashgabat in 1996 to take part in the official opening of the Embassy of the United Kingdom to Turkmenistan. From 1991 until 1996 the British Embassy in Moscow dealt with relations with Turkmenistan, and of course before 1991 Turkmenistan was part of the Soviet Union and therefore foreign affairs were completely Moscow’s business.
The trip to Turkmenistan was part of a wider Central Asia trip in which he visited the other Central Asian ‘Stans. The area which still today is relatively unknown was even less known in the 90s as then the 5 ‘Stans had only just received their independence and become countries for the first time 5 years prior.
On arrival Charles was met by Aksakals (which literally translates to White Beards, a reference to elders of special prominence) who presented the then Prince with local Turkmen bread.
Prince Charles was also tasked with officially opening the Turkmenistan government National Institute of World Languages along with the then President of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Niyazov Turkmenbashy. During his visit, Charles visited the Carpet Museum in Ashgabat, which houses the largest carpet in the world as well as thousands of other carpets, some of which are amazing and some of which are pretty average.
His main sightseeing trip was to Merv , located near the second largest city in Turkmenistan, Mary . Of particular interest was the contribution the UK was making to the archaeological and excavation efforts. Merv is considered to be the most important site along the ancient Silk Road, but compared with similar sites in neighbouring Uzbekistan and Iran, receives much less attention and only small numbers of tourists each year. Merv was inhabited from the 3 rd century BC until the 18 th century AD, and changed hands between various empires from the Macedonians, Parthians, Sasanians, Arabs, Seljuqs and Timurids, just to name a few.
Unfortunately, Charles didn’t get to see the Gates of Hell (Darvaza) , the fiery gas crater that Turkmenistan is most famous for. Nor did he get to travel to the seaside resort city of Avaza as it was yet to be built.
The Turkmenistan, and especially Ashgabat , that Charles visited 26 years ago was a markedly different place from the Turkmenistan we now know and love. Ashgabat had yet to be turned into a modern mega city plastered with gold and marble.
Reportedly, the most challenging part of Charles’ trip to Turkmenistan was the traditional gift that Turkmen leaders are known for presenting their guests – an Akhalteke horse. The then Prince and newly appointed British Ambassador to Turkmenistan had been given the clear instruction from the British Foreign office, as much as is humanly and diplomatically possible, avoid at all costs the possibility of being given a horse as an official present. The UK Prime Minister John Major had previously been given an Akhalteke as a gift which presented immense logistical issues trying to get it back to Britain.
Now for the first time ever, Britain and several countries around the world have a Monarch who has visited Central Asia, which may not be very significant in the world of geopolitics, but is a fact we think is pretty amazing.
