Turkmen media reports that a United Nations delegation has arrived in Ashgabat ahead of the February 11 presidential election.

It is a country that has been called the "hermit kingdom" and the "North Korea of Central Asia." But on February 11, Turkmenistan holds its first-ever presidential election with more than one choice on the ballot.

Two leading international rights groups are urging Turkmenistan to implement human rights reforms, as the country prepares for its first presidential election in 15 years.

The Dutch chairman of the European Union's Interparliamentary Delegation to Turkmenistan says the country's presidential poll on February 11 is not a "real" election.

Turkmenistan holds its first presidential election in nearly 15 years on, and its first since independence with more than one candidate. None of the candidates was particularly well known under the late President Saparmurat Niyazov's administration, but a front-runner appears to have emerged.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has reportedly dismissed Kyiv's ambassador to Austria following reports suggesting he and another envoy gave preferential treatment to Turkmen oppositionists, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports.

Under the watchful eye of the late Turkmen President-for-Life Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan emerged as a crucial link the chain of gas suppliers to Europe, and initial speculation in the wake of Niyazov's death (announced on December 21) focused its implications for European energy security.

Turkmen television today quoted Foreign Minister Rashid Moradov as saying that Turkmenistan will allow international observers to monitor next month's presidential elections.

German lawmakers are urging the federal government, which currently holds the European Union's rotating Presidency, to press for free and fair presidential polls in Turkmenistan in February, RFE/RL's Turkmen Service reports.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke by telephone today with his Turkmen counterpart, Rashid Meredov, in a conversation in which the two men reportedly expressed their countries' desire to maintain strong relations.

One of the presidential candidates in Turkmenistan is cited as promising voters that if he is elected he will legalize private land ownership, RFE/RL's Turkmen Service reported.

Turkmenistan's six presidential candidates officially hit the campaign trail this week. They are traveling into terra incognito in Turkmenistan, where there has never been a multicandidate presidential election. And Turkmen citizens are even hearing some new things from the presidential candidates for the election scheduled for February 11.