Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow is a Turkmen politician who has served as
the President of Turkmenistan since 2006.
Berdimuhamedow, a dentist by profession, served in the government under President Saparmurat
Niyazov as Minister of Health beginning in 1997 and as Deputy Prime Minister beginning
in 2001.
He became Acting President following Niyazov's death on 21 December 2006 and subsequently
won the February 2007 presidential election.
He faced no meaningful opposition in the vote and won by an overwhelming margin.
In the February 2012 presidential election, he was re-elected with 97% of the vote.
He uses the honorific title Arkadag, meaning "Patron".
Early years and private life Berdimuhamedov was born on 29 June 1957 in
Babarab in what is now the Geok Tepe etrap of Ahal province.
He graduated from the Turkmen State Medical Institute in 1979 and entered a career in
dentistry.
He also received a PhD in medical sciences in Moscow.
By 1992 he had become part of the dentistry faculty at the Medical Institute.
In an interview when asked about his life experience Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said:
"It is too early for me to write a detailed biography.
My biography is in many respects typical of people of my generation."
On influencing factors to his character:
"My parents always managed to maintain the hospitable atmosphere in the family.
They were happy at an opportunity to communicate openly with people - friends and relatives.
They always took active part in the resolving of other people's problems and difficulties...(more)...this
necessity in empathy my parents had instilled in me in the childhood influenced, to the
considerable extent, my choice to devote my life to medicine...(more)...readiness to help
a neighbor is peculiar to the society as a whole, it may characterize the strength and
moral health of the nation.
The Turkmen literature has many splendid authors who gave the world their immortal works that
express the profound Turkmen people's wisdom in a concentrated form.
I admire Magtymguly, Andalib, Azadi, Kemine...
Due to my medical education I read a lot the works of Ibn Sina, a great scholar of the
medieval times, with great interest.
The expanse of his interests and the depth of the scientist's judgments struck me.
Ibn Sina was a great man not only as a doctor but as a philosopher and thinker as well."
In 1995, during the rule of Saparmurat Niyazov, Berdimuhamedov became head of the dentistry
center of the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry.
He was appointed to the government as Minister of Health in 1997, and he was additionally
appointed as Deputy Prime Minister in 2001.
In April 2004, Niyazov suspended Berdimuhamedov's salary for three months because healthcare
workers were also not being paid.
The Health Ministry was responsible for carrying out Niyazov's notorious order to close all
hospitals outside of the capital city and major regional towns in 2005.
According to a cable from the U.S. embassy in Ashgabat, Berdymukhamedov is married with
two daughters and a son, but his wife lives in London.
He has another daughter with his long-term Russian mistress.
President of Turkmenistan
Following Niyazov's death in December 2006, the State Security Council of Turkmenistan
appointed Berdimuhamedow as acting president.
The Council stated in its announcement that Öwezgeldi Ataýew, who as the Chairman of
the Assembly of Turkmenistan was to become the acting president, was not appointed "in
view of the fact that the prosecutor-general had instituted criminal proceedings against
him."
Article 60 of the Turkmen Constitution stipulated that the acting president "may not stand for
election to the Presidency", which would have barred Berdimuhamedow from running in the
2007 presidential elections.
However, on December 24, 2006 People's Council voted to remove this provision, making him
eligible for the election as one of the six chosen candidates, all members of the Democratic
Party of Turkmenistan.
Berdimuhamedov was supported by the political elite, and the official results showed him
as winning 89% of the vote.
In his first presidential trip abroad, Berdimuhamedov visited Saudi Arabia in mid-April 2007.
There he performed the Umrah pilgrimage and met with King Abdullah.
He then visited Russia and President Vladimir Putin at the end of the same month.
In his April 2007 trip, Berdimuhamedov visited Islamic holy sites in Medina.
He has also been quoted as saying
"A human being always communicates with God...
There is no place for insincerity and craftiness.
Even if you try to palter before God he will see it anyway.
Truly, the one who can afford talking honestly and sincerely not only to God but people as
well is happy."
After taking office, Berdimuhamedow reversed several of Niyazov's more eccentric policies.
Internet cafes offering free and uncensored Web access opened in Ashgabat, compulsory
education was extended from nine to ten years and classes in sports and foreign languages
were re-introduced into the curriculum, and the government announced plans to open several
specialized schools for the arts.
President Berdimuhamedow has called for reform of education, health care and pension systems,
and government officials of non-Turkmen ethnic origin who had been sacked by Niyazov were
allowed to return to work.
He also restored the pensions of 100,000 elderly people whose pensions Niyazov had slashed
in the face of an unspecified budget crisis.
Later on, he reopened the Turkmen Academy of Sciences, which had been closed by Niyazov.
Berdimuhamedow also took steps to curb the extensive personality cult surrounding his
predecessor.
He called for an end to the elaborate pageants of music and dancing that formerly greeted
the president on his arrival anywhere, and said that the Turkmen "sacred oath", part
of which states that the speaker's tongue should shrivel if he ever speaks ill of Turkmenistan
or its president, should not be recited multiple times a day but reserved for "special occasions."
He also gave up his right to rename any landmarks, institutions, or cities.
He also restored the traditional names of the months of the year and days of the week,
and announced plans to move the infamous gold rotating statue of Niyazov from Ashgabat's
central square.
In 2008, he fired Akmyrat Rejepow, the longtime chief of the presidential security detail
and one of the main proponents of Niyazov's personality cult.
Although Berdimuhamedow's regime is much more open than Niyazov's, it is still rigidly authoritarian.
Indeed, Berdimuhamedow has explicitly ruled out any move toward Western-style democracy.
However, in August 2013, Berdimuhamedow suspended his DPT membership for the duration of his
presidency in order to remain above partisan politics and promote a multiparty system.
Honours Foreign awards
UAE: Order of Zayed UZB: Buyuk xizmatlari uchun
KAZ: Medal "10 Years of the City of Astana" TJK: Order Somoni
BHR: Order of Sheikh Isa ibn Salman Al Khalifa, First Class
SRB : Order of the Republic of Serbia See also
Politics of Turkmenistan References
External links Presidency Official Website
Turkmenistan Votes for Presidential Successor