1 Manat 15th Anniversary of Neutrality

Turkmenistan's permanent neutrality status was formally recognized by the United Nations in December 1995 — an unusual diplomatic achievement for a post-Soviet state, secured largely through the personal maneuvering of then-president Saparmurat Niyazov, who saw it as both a foreign policy shield and a domestic propaganda tool. The policy insulated Turkmenistan from regional entanglements while Niyazov consolidated one of the most extreme personality cults in post-Soviet history.

By 2010, the country was under Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, who had quietly dismantled many of Niyazov's more eccentric decrees while preserving the neutrality doctrine intact.