Further important ministerial appointments by President Kurbanguly Berdymuhammedov have trickled out of Turkmenistan, this time touching on some of the country’s most influential political assignments.
At the 11th session of the third legislature of the Turkmen Mejlis on Feb. 23, deputies approved the appointment of Yashgeldy Esenov as chairman of the Supreme Court, Muhammed Ogushkov as Prosecutor General, Akhmad Rakhmanov as Minister of the Interior, and Murad Karriyev as the Minister of Justice.
The Mejlis also unanimously confirmed the appointment of Turkmenistan’s first ever female speaker of parliament — Akdja Nurberdiyev. In the same session, deputies also voted to name Kasymkuly Babayev as the legislature’s deputy speaker.
On the same day, Berdymuhammedov held a meeting with the Security Council, where he named his Minister of Defence, Minister of National Security and Head of Customs — Agageldy Mammetgeldyev, Geldymuhammed Ashirmuhammedov, and Airam Alovov respecetively.
Needless to say these are reconfirmations, so as opposed to the several replacements that have taken place in the civilian ministries, these appointments suggest that Berdymuhammedov is opting to pursue his predecessors line with regard to these matters. Alternatively, the interia could be interpretedt as a sign that he is captive to these often competing sources of actual power in the country. The power ministries are all similarly dubious institutions in their regards to upholding human rights, to say the least, but they are far from allies. If one accepts the reading, made in some quarters, that Berdymuhammedov will take charge of the civilian sector while giving Chief of the Presidential Guard Akmurad Rejepov control of the country’s security issues, this Cabinet is easy to understand. The impetus for reform genuinely exists, but only in the civilian sector.
In other appointments, Juma Jumayev will head the Committee for Human Rights, Baimurat Babayev was named as head of the Science, Education and Culture Committee, Akhmet Chariyev will head the Economics and Social Affairs Committee, and Akmuhammet Shamuhammedov will take charge of the International Affairs and Interparliamentary Committee.
To date, quite extensive professional biographies of the lesser ministers have been published on the state newspaper (which can be downloaded here for Russian-speakers), but the power ministries have yet to have such information provided.