1991 Turkmen independence referendum

* * *

|  | 26 October 1991 (1991-10-26) |

|
|

* * *

Do you agree with the legislative establishment of Turkmenistan as an independent democratic state?

|  |  |

|
|

For |

| 94.1%
Against |

| 5.9%

Do you support the statement of the President and Supreme Soviet of the Turkmenistan Soviet Socialist Republic "On the domestic and foreign policy of Turkmenistan" and the practical activity to implement it?

|  |  |

|
|

For |

| 93.5%
Against |

| 6.5%

Politics of Turkmenistan

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Chairperson: Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow
* President

Serdar Berdimuhamedow

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Speaker: Dünýägözel Gulmanowa
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An independence referendum was held in the Turkmen SSR on 26 October 1991.

## Background[edit]

The policies of demokratizatsiya and perestroika as enacted by Mikhail Gorbachev led to the gradual loss of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's iron grip over its constituent federal republics. Nationalistic sentiments were on the rise—often fomenting in widescale protests—across late 1980s, leading to the parade of sovereignties.

In Turkmenistan, the national conservative Agzybirlik (Unification) took up the cause of independence and gained a significant base among native Turkmens. Saparmurat Niyazov—then Secretary of the Supreme Soviet—had the party banned for anti-Soviet activities, and suppressed dissent. However, in what the first multi-party election to the Supreme Soviet (1990), multiple independent candidates won and propagated nationalist sentiments.

Despite this, in the March 1991 referendum, 98% of voters proposed to preserve the Turkmen SSR as an equal sovereign republic of the USSR. A treaty to the effect was agreed upon to be signed but a day before, hardline communists launched a coup in Russia. Niyazov remained ambivalent to the coup but once it failed and Russia made its intentions clear to leave USSR, he prepared for the inevitable disintegration of the USSR and independence of Turkmenistan. As a result, an independence referendum was held, while it was designed to simultaneously repurpose Niyazov as an able leader in testing times of transition.

## Questions[edit]

Voters were asked two questions:[1]

1. Do you agree with the legislative establishment of Turkmenistan as an independent democratic state?
2. Do you support the statement of the President and Supreme Soviet of the Turkmenistan Soviet Socialist Republic "On the domestic and foreign policy of Turkmenistan" and the practical activity to implement it?

## Results[edit]

### Independence[edit]

Choice| Votes| %

|
|

For| 1,707,725| 94.07
Against| 107,693| 5.93
Total| 1,815,418| 100.00
Registered voters/turnout| 1,864,142| –
Source: Direct Democracy

### Niyazovism[edit]

Choice| Votes| %

|
|

For| | 93.5
Against| | 6.5
Total|
Registered voters/turnout| 1,864,142| –
Source: Direct Democracy

## References[edit]

1. ^ Nohlen, Dieter; Grotz, Florian; Hartmann, Christof (2001-11-15). Elections in Asia and the Pacific: A Data Handbook. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/019924958x.003.0022. ISBN 978-0-19-924958-9.

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Elections and referendums in Turkmenistan

Presidential elections|

* 1990
* 1992
* 2007
* 2012
* 2017
* 2022

Assembly elections|

* 1937
* 1947
* 1951
* 1955
* 1959
* 1963
* 1967
* 1971
* 1975
* 1980
* 1984
* 1990
* 1994
* 1999
* 2004
* 2008–09
* 2013
* 2018
* 2023

People's Council elections|

* 1992
* 1998
* 2003
* 2007
* 2010
* 2016
* 2018
* 2021

Local elections|

* 2003
* 2006
* 2007
* 2010
* 2014
* 2016
* 2018

Referendums|

* 1991
* 1994

See also: Elections and referendums in the Soviet Union

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Revolutions of 1989

Internal
background|

* Era of Stagnation
* Communism
* Anti-communism
* Criticism of communist party rule
* Eastern Bloc
* Eastern Bloc politics
* Eastern Bloc media and propaganda
* Emigration from the Eastern Bloc
* KGB
* Nomenklatura
* Shortage economy
* Totalitarianism
* Anti-communist insurgencies in Central and Eastern Europe

International
background|

* Active measures
* Cold War
* List of socialist states
* People Power Revolution
* Predictions of the collapse of the Soviet Union
* Reagan Doctrine
* Soviet Empire
* Terrorism and the Soviet Union
* Vatican Opposition
* Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia

Reforms|

* Uskoreniye
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* 500 Days
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* Glasnost
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Government
leaders|

* Ramiz Alia
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* Mengistu Haile Mariam
* Ne Win
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* Heng Samrin
* Deng Xiaoping
* Zhao Ziyang
* Todor Zhivkov
* Siad Barre

Opposition
methods|

* Civil resistance
* Human chains
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* Polish underground press
* Political demonstration
* Protests
* Samizdat
* Strike action

Opposition
leaders|

* Lech Wałęsa
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* Liu Gang
* Wu'erkaixi
* Chai Ling
* Wang Dan
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* Zhelyu Zhelev
* Aung San Suu Kyi
* Meles Zenawi
* Isaias Afwerki
* Ronald Reagan
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* Pope John Paul II

Opposition
movements|

* Beijing Students' Autonomous Federation
* Charter 77
* New Forum
* Civic Forum
* Democratic Party of Albania
* Democratic Russia
* Initiative for Peace and Human Rights
* Sąjūdis
* People's Movement of Ukraine
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* Public Against Violence
* Belarusian Popular Front
* Rastokhez
* National League for Democracy
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* Union of Democratic Forces
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* Alliance of Free Democrats
* Hungarian Democratic Forum

Events
by location|

| Central and
Eastern Europe|

* Albania
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|

Soviet Union|

* Armenia
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Elsewhere|

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Individual
events|

* Jeltoqsan
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* 1991 protests in Belgrade
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* Dissolution of the Warsaw Pact
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* Dissolution of the Soviet Union
* Tajikistani Civil War
* Dissolution of Czechoslovakia

Later events|

* Colour revolution
* Decommunization
* Lustration
* Democratization
* Economic liberalization
* Post-Soviet conflicts
* Neo-Sovietism
* Neo-Stalinism
* Post-communism
* Yugoslav Wars
* Pink tide

Related|

* Human rights in the Soviet Union

* v
* t
* e

Independence referendums in the Soviet Union

1991
Lithuania
Estonia
Latvia
Georgia
Armenia
Turkmenistan
Transnistria
Gagauzia
Ukraine
Nagorno-Karabakh
Azerbaijan
Uzbekistan

1992
South Ossetia
Tatarstan

Autonomy referendum
Transnistria (1989–1990)
Soviet Union (1991)
Narva and Sillamäe (1993)
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