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Turkmenbashi, "Father of All Turkmen," Dies
// Death of Turkmenistan's Leader Causes Government Upheaval
Turkmenistan's President-for-life Saparmurat Niyazev, better known by his preferred nickname of Turkmenbashi, died early Thursday morning of cardiac arrest in the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat. In violation of the country's constitution, Niyazov's inner circle named a deputy prime minister as his temporary replacement and imprisoned the speaker of parliament. A period of mourning was declared across the country, the New Year's holidays were cancelled, and the army was put on full alert. Niyazov's death may signal the beginning of a geopolitical power struggle among the country's neighbors, who covet Turkmenistan's vast reserves of natural gas.
The sudden demise of Turkmenbashi, the "Father of All Turkmen," was announced yesterday morning. According to Turkmenistan's state news services, Saparmurat Niyazov died of cardiac arrest on Thursday at 01:10 AM Ashgabat time. "The news of the death of Saparmurat Niyazov was a blow to the Turkmen people. Every family feels personal grief at this loss," said the local television station. In the wake of the president's death, Turkmenistan's newspapers held up their morning printing run until evening on Thursday in order to coincide with the beginning of the official period of mourning.
Opponents of Turkmenbashi's regime greeting his death with exultation. Opposition leaders living in exile hurried to announce that they were prepared to return home as soon as possible. "According to the constitution, presidential elections should be held within the next two months," said Khudaiberdy Orazov, the leader of the Turkmen opposition party Vatan and a former deputy prime minister who is now living in Sweden. "Right now we have grounds to assume that everything will be done according to the constitution. We will return and take part in the elections."
Meanwhile, however, events yesterday in Ashgabat demonstrated that the opposition's celebrations are potentially premature: immediately after the death of the president-for-life, something just short of a coup took place in Turkmenistan. According to the constitution, if the president becomes incapable of fulfilling his duties, the speaker of the parliament takes over until new presidential elections can be held. Before yesterday, that post was held by Ovezgeldy Ataev, and the Turkmen media had already reported that Ataev would be temporary stepping into Niyazov's shoes. The further evolution of events, however, caught everyone off guard. Without even bothering to officially strip the speaker of his diplomatic immunity, the country's prosecutor general launched a criminal investigation against him, and less than two hours later he was put under arrest. The majority of Turkmenistan's senior government officials were informed of the events only later that morning, at a hastily convened session of the federal security council,
At the meeting, the security council decided to name deputy prime minister Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov as acting president. Berdymuhammedov, who is also the country's minister of health and medical industry, was additionally entrusted with the honor of heading the commission that will organize Saparmurat Niyazov's funeral.
The unexpectedly sharp twist in the succession order has given some members of the Turkmen opposition cause to speculate that Turkmenbashi's death may not have been by entirely natural means. "The speed with which the Turkmen authorities found a way out of a difficult situation, with the lightning arrest of the speaker of parliament and the naming of the deputy prime minister as the president's temporary successor, is worrying," said Bayram Shikhmuradov, one of the leaders of the Republican Party of Turkmenistan, who also happens to be the son of Turkmenistan's repressed former Foreign Affairs Minister Boris Shikhmuradov. According to the younger Shikhmuradov, the impression is that, if nothing else, Saparmurat Niyazov's death at least did not come as a complete surprise to the president's inner circle. "They were ready for it, and they quickly put their plan into action," he concluded.
He expressed doubts that any opposition figures would be able to return to Turkmenistan any time soon. "All of that will depend on the actions of the current government. The majority of the opposition leaders do not have Turkmen passports, meaning that they will need visas, which they are not likely to receive." Thus, the opposition is in no position to attempt to influence the outcome of the struggle for power.
The most crucial phase of the battle to decide who will inherit the president's seat still lies ahead. An emergency session of the most senior decision-making body in the government, the people's council, is scheduled for next Tuesday. This council will set the date of the presidential elections. Under Turkmen law, the current temporary president, Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov, cannot run in the elections. According to opposition leaders, however, Berdymuhammedov, who formerly served as Saparmurat Niyazov's personal physician, is a weak-willed man who wields little influence. It was precisely this lack of character that allowed him to retain the post of deputy prime minister longer than anyone else, a fact that has also even birthed rumors that he is Turkmenbashi's illegitimate son.
No one seriously entertains the idea that the title of Turkmenbashi will pass to Niyazov's son Murat. "Murat can become his father's successor only if they put him in the spot. But even then he wouldn't be able to hang onto it," believes Bayram Shikhmuradov. "Also, he has recently been living in Vienna and working as a businessman, and in general he disapproves of his father's cult of personality."
Observers are inclined to believe that the presidential elections will take place until the total control of powerful Turkmen officials. The most influential among them is Akmurad Rejepov, the head of Saparmurat Niyazov's cadre of bodyguards. "He controls the entire army. Under him, the army guarded not only Turkmenbashi but also important government buildings and sites, and they accompanied the president on any trip he took," explained Shikhmuradov. "Moreover, General Rejepov succeeded in putting his people in key posts within the security services. The Ministry of Defense and the Internal Affairs Ministry are headed not by military men and police but by former members of Niyazov's security staff."
At the moment all available measures are being taken in Turkmenistan to make sure that no one succeeds in influencing the internal political situation from outside the country. According to the Turkmen media, the army is on high alert, border security has been beefed up, and the border with Uzbekistan is closed completely.
Vladimir Solovyov and Mikhail Zygar
All the Article in Russian as of Dec. 22, 2006
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