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Turkmenistan is one of the most closed countries in the world. And, when it makes headlines in recent years, it is usually for one of two reasons: to be one of the countries with the worst record in human rights, widely denounced by international organizations, or for the eccentric behavior and decisions of its President.
Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, president of the former Soviet republic since 2006, insists on combining the image of a powerful man with various eccentricities in the exercise of power. He has been seen, for example, singing rap, participating in a car race, or demonstrating his physical abilities by lifting (gold) bars at full ministerial meetings.
Now, Turkmenistan makes headlines for what appears to be a new eccentricity of its head of state: the inauguration, on Tuesday (10), of a statue of a golden dog, six meters high, in the capital Ashgabat.
Meanwhile, Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has just unveiled a gisnt statue of his favorite dog pic.twitter.com/NSlIlXbAoH
– Piotr Zalewski (@p_zalewski) November 12, 2020
The statue pays homage to the Alabay breed, a native breed that derives from the Central Asian Sheepdog and is part of the country’s national heritage. It is not the first time that the breed has been awarded by President Berdymukhamedov, who last year even dedicated a book to the Alabay dog and, at a ministerial meeting, recited a poem he wrote about the breed.
Berdymukhamedov also offered a puppy of this breed to Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2017, running around the world with the photograph of Turkmenistan’s head showing the dog lifting it by the scruff of one hand.
The president of Turkmenistan gave Putin a puppy for the Russian president’s birthday during talks in Sochi. See more via @ReutersTV pic.twitter.com/Kr8Z8CGYGR
– Reuters (@Reuters) 11 October 2017
According to the BBC, the statue is located in a residential area designed for civil servants and has an LED screen below where videos about that dog breed are shown. State media report that the statue reflects national “pride and self-confidence”. The cost of the statue was not disclosed.
During the inauguration, a boy received an Alabay dog, officially considered a national heritage of the country, along with handmade rugs and the ancient Ahal Teke horse race.
Berdymukhamedov also often exhibits his passion for local horses, having even inaugurated, in 2015, a statue of him on horseback, 21 meters high and, of course, also all in gold.
Turkmenistan’s president has built a giant gold statue of himself on top of his favorite horse: http://t.co/PBnchyDhAF pic.twitter.com/Cv9UA5I8dI
– VICE News (@VICENews) May 26, 2015
Indeed, images of Berdymukhamedov riding through the streets of Ashgabat are relatively common. In 2013, it was reported that the governor fell into a horse race, but the state media was banned from showing pictures of what happened.
In 2019, he appeared singing, with his grandson, in a rap to apologize for the living conditions in Turkmenistan.
Despite the ostentation of its president’s eccentricities, much of Turkmenistan’s population lives in poverty and the country is classified as one of the least free in the world by the press freedom organization RSF, only one place above Korea. North.
Berdymukhamedov, who was a dentist before being appointed health minister to the country’s former president, Saparmurat Niyazov, has been in power since 2006 and in the last presidential election in 2017, was elected for a third term, with 98% of the vote. , in elections that once again received reservations from the international community.
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