Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow

In September 1943, his unit was one of the first to cross the Dnieper River.

He was later killed in the 1948 Ashgabat earthquake.

Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow (born 29 June 1957) is a Turkmen politician who is currently the chairman of the People's Council of Turkmenistan (Halk Maslahaty).

Berdimuhamedow was born on 29 June 1957 in Babarap, in what is now Gökdepe District, Ahal Province, to Mälikguly Berdimuhamedowiç Berdimuhamedow (1932–2021) and Ogulabat Kürräýewna Kürräýewa (1937-2023).

He is the only son in a family of six children.

Berdimuhamedow’s father worked as a senior Interior Ministry officer in a prison guard detachment.

He retired as a colonel of police.

His grandfather, Berdimuhamed Annaýew, was a local teacher who served in the Red Army during World War II as part of the 748th Rifle Regiment of the 206th Rifle Division of the 2nd Ukrainian Front.

Berdimuhamedow 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 1995, during the rule of Saparmyrat Nyýazow, he became head of the dentistry center of the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry.

A dentist by profession, Berdimuhamedow served in the government of the president, Saparmyrat Niyazow, as the minister of health in 1997 and as the vice-president in 2001.

He was appointed to the government as Minister of Health in 1997.

In 2001 he was appointed as one of several Deputy Chairmen of the Cabinet of Ministers (also referred to as Deputy Prime Minister, despite the lack of a Prime Ministerial post in Turkmenistan), in this case responsible for health, science, education, and sports.

In April 2004, Nyýazow suspended Berdimuhamedow's salary for three months because healthcare workers were not being paid.

The Health Ministry was responsible for carrying out Nyýazow's order to close all hospitals outside of the national and provincial capitals in 2005.

He previously served as the 2nd President of Turkmenistan from 2006 to 2022, when he entered into a power-sharing arrangement with his son, Serdar, the current president.

He became acting president following Niyazow's death on 21 December 2006 and subsequently won the 2007 presidential election.

He faced no meaningful opposition and won by an overwhelming margin with 89% of the vote.

Following Nyýazow's death in December 2006, the State Security Council of Turkmenistan appointed Berdimuhamedow acting president.

The Council stated in its announcement that Öwezgeldi Ataýew, who, as the Chairman of the Assembly of Turkmenistan was to have become the acting president, was not appointed "in view of the fact that the prosecutor-general had instituted criminal proceedings against him".

However, on 24 December 2006, the 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.

Berdimuhamedow was supported by the political elite, and the official results showed him as winning 89% of the vote.

Berdimuhamedow's appointment as interim president and subsequent run for president, however, violated the constitution.

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.

In his first presidential trip abroad, Berdimuhamedow 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.

After taking office, Berdimuhamedow reversed several of Nyýazow's more eccentric policies.

Internet cafés 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 specialised schools for the arts.

He called for reform of education, health care and pension systems, and government officials of non-Turkmen ethnic origin who had been sacked by Nyýazow were allowed to return to work.

In 2012, he was re-elected for a second term with 97% of the vote and he was re-elected again in 2017 with 97.7% of the vote.

He was among the candidates elected to the People's Council of Turkmenistan on 28 March 2021, as a member from Ahal Region.

He reportedly received 100% of votes from the electors.

On 14 April 2021, he was unanimously elected chairman of the People's Council, the upper chamber of the Turkmen parliament.

Like his predecessor, Berdimuhamedow headed an authoritarian regime and is the subject of a cult of personality.

Rights groups have described Turkmenistan under Berdimuhamedow as one of the most repressive countries in the world, accusing Berdimuhamedow, his relatives, and his associates of possessing and exercising unlimited power over all aspects of public life.

Berdimuhamedow stepped down as president on 19 March 2022, being succeeded by his son, Serdar, who won a snap election deemed as neither free nor fair, making Turkmenistan the first Central Asian country to be ruled by a dynastic system.

The People's Council was subsequently re-formed as the country's top leadership body in January 2023, with Serdar then reappointing his father as its chairman and granting him the title "National Leader of the Turkmen People".