Anis H. Bajrektarevic is a Professor and a Chairperson for International Law and Global

TURKMENISTAN
A
After the death of the former ruling dictator Saparmurat
Niyazov, who named himself “Turkmenbashi,” which lit-
erally means “Father of the Turkmen,” the former Vice-
Prime Minister Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, was
elected new President on 11 February 2007—the elec-
tions were held without the permission of the participa-
tion of political opponents. Turkmenistan still remains
isolated not only from Central Asia, but from rest of Asia
and the West. The country still maintains its non-aligned
status, declaring and practicing neutrality in many
geopolitical organizations and demonstration neutrality
regarding the conflicts such as Crimea, the Caspian Sea
deals, and staying out of the new AIIB and the security
organizations such as the CSTO and the SCO.
POLITICAL DEvELOPMENT
After Saparmurat Niyazov had elected himself head of
state by direct elections in October 1990, he replaced
communism with a unique version of independent au-
thoritarian nationalism, led by a pervasive cult of person-
ality—his own personality. Although the constitution
stated that the country was democratic and was based
on a presidential republic with the separation of powers,
Niyazov established a brutal regime which became in-
creasingly dependent on its domestic secret service and
security forces. In 2006, Niyazov began to isolate the
country from international and regional organizations.
China was the only nation which remained important to
Niyazov’s regime.
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President Supramurat Niyazov, also known as
Turkmenbashi (“Father of All Turkmen”), passed
away on 21 December 2006 because of a heart
attack at age 66. He ruled Turkmenistan under
Soviet rule and after independence since 1985.
Turkmenistan faced a power vacuum that was
not allowed to form after the seamless transi-
tion of power to former dentist Gurbanguly
Berdymukhammedov. There was fear of vio-
lence and hope as many hoped a new President
would pull back the curtains on the secretive
state. Before Niyazov’s death, there was only
one political party, Democratic Party of Turk-
menistan. 
There was great hope for a democracy or at
least a less authoritarian and megalomaniac
leader and a more transparent government. The
seamless transition to an unknown political and
public figure, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamme-
dov, was welcomed as he was a political new-
comer and was not part of the Soviet
Communist apparatchik. The transition went
smoothly with no turmoil, but offered no op-
portunity for political pluralism and a debate
about the future of the country to take place.
Since Niyazov’s death in 2006, Berdy-
mukhammedov has done away with much of
Turkmenbashi’s cult of personality and installed
his own. There was not much in changes in
leadership, leadership style, and policies. The
transition was uneventful and Turkmenistan re-
mains still one of the most secret and reclusive
countries in the world.
After the election, Berdymukhamedov under-
lined the continuation of Niyazov’s policies, but
after his first year in office, some changes in do-
mestic policies such as health care and educa-
tion as well as discrimination policies were
already visible. Now Turkmenistan is trying to
establish relationships with states which are lo-
cated outside Central Asia. Turkmenistan still
considers itself part of the non-aligned move-
ment and Turkmenistan is not part of any of the
regional security organization that other Cen-
tral Asia states are.