Translated material
Berdymukhammedov ordered to have fun
Officials and the Russian language are returning to Turkmenistan
The new President of Turkmenistan Kurbanguly Berdimuhammedov , who is also the head of government according to the constitution, has practically completed the formation of the cabinet. The latest were the recent appointments of heads of law enforcement agencies. Defense Minister Agageldy Mammetgeldyev, National Security Minister Geldymukhammed Ashirmukhammedov , Internal Affairs Minister Akmamed Rakhmanov and Prosecutor General Mukhammedkuli Ogshukov retained their posts.The return to leadership work of Dzhemal Geoklenova - in 1997-2002, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Textile Industry - attracted attention. Reputed to be Niyazov's favorite, Ms. Geoklenova then fell out of favor. She was accused of ruining the area of work entrusted to her and was sent into honorary diplomatic exile as a counselor at the Turkmen Embassy in Moscow. The new president returned the ex-deputy prime minister to his homeland and appointed him as minister of state - chairman of the Turkmencover state corporation with a six-month probationary period. Mr. Berdymukhammedov decided not yet to abandon the practice of conditional appointments with a probationary period introduced by his predecessor - apparently, in order to have a formal reason to cancel the unsuccessful personnel decision.
It also happens the other way around - after a few days it becomes clear: the manager appointed to a responsible post deserves much more. This happened with the chairman of the Turkmengaz state concern Tachberdy Tagiyev and the head of the Turkmen sea and river shipping company Kurbannazar Ashirov. Both two days after receiving these positions from the president, they were promoted to the level of deputy prime ministers. The career of Mr. Ashirov, a 32-year-old physicist and graduate of Ashgabat University, has been particularly fast-paced.
Observers in Turkmenistan note that the overwhelming number of new ministers and heads of concerns are from the Ahal (which includes Ashgabat) and Mary velayats (regions), representatives of the large Turkmen Teke tribe. The late Niyazov was a Tekin, and his successor Berdymukhammedov is also a Tekin. Among the top managers, so far only two come from the western Caspian Balkan region - the chairman of Turkmengaz, Tagiyev, and the minister of state, chairman of the state concern Turkmenneft, Tashliyev. Turkmen researcher Shokhrat Kadyrov, who lives in exile, considers this confirmation of the immutability of the ethnocratic character of the ruling regime.
Great expectations are associated in the country with the return to the post of Minister of Education of Khydyr Saparlyev, who was sent by Niyazov as ambassador to Armenia a year before his death. According to Vremya Novostei sources from Ashgabat, Mr. Saparlyev was given the task of urgently preparing programs for secondary schools with a 10-year education, abolished by Niyazov and restored by his successor. A decision is also being prepared to allow current ninth-graders to remain in school for another year. The issue of providing the opportunity to receive a 10-year secondary education to those who previously graduated from a nine-year school is being considered, as well as the opening of technical schools in the country and the abolition of the two-year work experience for admission to universities.
“VN” learned that the Turkmen authorities intend to discuss with Moscow in the spring the problems of implementing the Russian-Turkmen agreement on cooperation in the field of science, culture and education, signed in 2002, which provided for the expansion of teaching the Russian language and the protection of the rights of Russian speakers in Turkmenistan. However, the agreement never came into force, because in the same year Turkmenbashi suddenly ordered the closure of Russian classes in all district schools. Now there is hope to resume education in Russian, but for this we need Russian help - textbooks, programs, teacher training in Russia.
A knowledgeable VN source from an environment close to the new Turkmen leadership reports the words of President Berdymukhammedov, which he said on February 19 at a banquet on the occasion of Flag Day and Turkmenbashi’s birthday: “We have all forgotten how to have fun and celebrate. I ask everyone to take off their ties and jackets and start having fun from the heart.” They say that nine courses of hot dishes were served at the festive table...
The country begins to believe that the despot is dead. It seems his heirs were the first to realize this. And now the mention of Saparmurat Turkmenbashi the Great disappeared from the text of the oath of allegiance to the homeland.