Translated material
Battle of the Heirs
Turkmen special services pushed back the military
Today in Ashgabat there will be a meeting of the Khalk Maslakhaty (People's Council) - the highest body of representative power of Turkmenistan, at which a fateful decision is expected to be made. Delegates gathered from all over Turkmenistan will be asked to decide on a list of candidates for the post of president of the country, head of government and chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty itself. All of these positions became vacant as a result of the unexpected death on December 21 of Turkmenistan's permanent president, Saparmurat Niyazov .Today's meeting, taking place at a time when Turkmenistan is plunged into seven days of official mourning, may bring a number of surprises. As one of the leaders of the Turkmen opposition, chairman of the Republican Party of Turkmenistan Nurmuhamed Khanamov , told Vremya Novostei yesterday, yesterday in Ashgabat the Minister of Defense of Turkmenistan Agageldy Mamedgeldyev and about 120 representatives of the middle and lower ranks of the Turkmen nomenklatura were arrested. If these reports are true, this means that the predictions made by analysts immediately after his death about an inevitable and tough fight over the division of Turkmenbashi’s power inheritance are fully justified.
Sources in the leadership of Turkmenistan, cited by RIA Novosti on December 22, have assigned Mr. Mamedgeldyev the post of chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty. The removal of the head of the defense department from the pool of competitors for top positions indicates that the military, who enjoy authority in the army, is moving away from the leadership. Control over the country, in all likelihood, will pass to people from the secret services.
Nurmukhamed Khanamov, citing his sources in Ashgabat, believes that in this way, for today’s meeting, the “platform” is being cleared for General Akmurat Rejepov , the head of the late president’s security service, to come to power in Turkmenistan. Some representatives of the Russian business community, who previously worked in Turkmenistan and know General Rejepov well, are not inclined to dramatize the possible strengthening of his positions. They believe that this is “a person who is quite literate and can be negotiated with.”