Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov fired two more high-placed Interior Ministry officials, only days after dismissing the head and deputy head of the ministry, Turkmenistan.ru reported Monday.
Lieutenant Kakaly Tyllayev was released from his responsibilities as Ashgabat chief of police, while Major Gurbangeldy Kurbangeldyev was dismissed as acting chief of police in Dashoguz district. Both were discharged for “serious shortcomings” in their professional conduct, Turkmenistan.ru reported.
Tyllayev was appointed head of police by late President Saparmurat Niyazov in March 2006.
Last week, the security ministries underwent a serious shake-up after Interior Minister Khojamurat Annagurbanov, First Deputy Interior Minister Nuryagdy Yagmyrov, and National Security Minister Geldymukhammed Ashirmukhammedov were all removed from their positions.
Berdymukhammedov cited a various reasons for his decision to dismiss Annagurbanov, including abuse of office and nepotism. Yagmyrov was dismissed for professional shortcomings, including his handling of the fire at the Russian Bazaar in Ashgabat. Meanwhile, Ashirmukhammedov reportedly asked to be discharged for health reasons.
The abuses cited by Berdymukhammedov at a special meeting of law enforcement bodies held on Oct. 8 resulted from an inquiry conducted by a state commission set up to investigate citizens’ complaints about the Interior Ministry.
Berdymukhammedov noted at the meeting that public complaints had doubled recently, without specifying a specific time-frame for the inquiry.
A report detailing instances of bribery and forged evidence sanctioned and ordered by Interior Ministry was presented to the meeting by the Prosecutor General Muhammetguly Ogshukov. He cited a specific case in which Annagurbanov, who has been replaced by 37-year old Orazgeldy Amanmyradov, sought to cover up a serious crime committed by his nephew.
Speaking about the Interior Ministry department’s role in the fire at the Russian Bazaar, Berdymukhammedov lamented its failure to draw conclusions from a resolution passed in spring to carry out a complete inventory of facilities for compliance with fire safety regulations.
The dismissal this week of city-level Interior Ministry officials indicates that the purge of the country’s security apparatus is not yet over. Moreover, the rhetoric and the style in which the rotation was executed were highly reminiscent of that deployed under Niyazov’s rule. The charges were at simultaneously generic and lacking in specific detailed as well as highly personalised. Vague references to abuse of office were coupled with accusations of nepotism, which have been the grounds for the downfall of many high-placed Turkmen officials.
The change of personnel and the source of the charges suggest some degree of inter-ministerial conflict and rivalry, also hallmarks of Niyazov’s regime. While the National Security Minister was replaced by the head of the presidential security apparatus, 41-year old Charymurat Amanov, who had himself taken over from Niyazov’s eminence grise, Akmurad Rejepov, the source of the claims made against the Interior Ministry emerged from the office of the Prosecutor General.
Writing in Russian daily newspaper Vremya Novostei, Arkady Dubnov cites sources as saying that the Annagurbanov’s removal as Interior Minister was prompted by his attempt to extort bribes during the recent annual prisoner amnesty.
This is the most benevolent possible interpretation of recent events. The new appointments certainly have a post-Niyazov air about them and it can only be hoped that the Prosecutor General’s reports, which outsiders can only gain access to via state media, reflect some degree of newly discovered puritanical distaste for the excesses of corruption. However, so long as these alleged criminal activities are exposed in Niyazov-style rituals of televised humiliation, there can be no assurance that any progress has been achieved under Berdymukhammedov’s watch.
Transparency remains a distant goal under the present government, signalled most clearly by the almost instantaneous reversal of a policy on Monday to allow comments on the official state web site. If the West harbours any ambitions to engage further with Berdymukhammedov’s government and keep its conscience clean, these simple facts cannot be overlooked.