After 21 December 2006 when Saparmurat Niyazov, the first president of Turkmenistan died, a presidency election was made in Turkmenistan for the first time. Former minister of health Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdymuhamedow, who was elected by proxy by unanimous vote of political elites after the death of Niyazov in the presidency election made with 94% participation of public in 21 February 2007, took 89.23% of the votes and elected as president and became the second head of the state after the independency of Turkmenistan.
Before and right after the elections, there were some criticisms. According to these criticisms, new government will not be same as the one in the past. However, with the elections, these criticisms turned out to be in the wrong because some ‘’first’s during the elections proved this change to be right. Especially, the elections included more than one candidate and was followed by some observers from some international organizations( UN,OSCE, Commonwealth of Independent States) and transparent box was used and there were ballot boxes established in some cities (Moscow, Istanbul) where Turkmens is living intensely therefore enabling the Turkmens to vote in the elections. These developments gave the first signs of changes. This change, started with G.Berdimuhamedow and development process continued. Changing movements during the elections were followed by some educational, scientific, health, social security, culture-sport and agricultural developments. Especially the educational and scientific developments are the evidences of the fact that the influences of the cultic leader Saparmurat Niyazov have been erased gradually. However, the main operation of the new leader which gave the first signs of the real change in the country is undoubtedly the operation that was carried out suddenly on political and bureaucratic elites who had taken roots in administrative structure during the period of Niyazov. In this operation, the most striking point was that Geldimurat Ashirmuhammedov, Minister of National Security, and Akmurad Recebov, President Security Unit, were arrested for the claim that they had made irregularity which is claimed to have directly influenced Berdimuhamedow’s accession.
The leader was not limited to this and he proved to be a leader who did not have a controlling mechanism because he dismissed Payızgeldi Meredov, Minister of Agriculture, and some bureaucrats with different accusations and made some changes of duty in the upper stages of the army.
This change started in Turkmenistan domestic policy with the accession of the new leader Berdimuhamedow revealed itself also in foreign policy. Berdimuhamedow, in contrast to Niyazov, followed a non-rigid policy chain in foreign policy. Within this policy chain, the problems with the neighbor countries (Azerbaijan, Iran) were partly solved by means of new negotiations. Another significant development was that some pipeline treaties were signed with some global powers-especially Russia and China- over the rich natural gas resources of Turkmenistan. Through these treaties, Turkmenistan started to develop economically, by exporting its natural gas to some countries especially the ones in question.
First five-year G.Berdimuhamedow period will end in February 2012 and the nomination process for presidency elections which will be made in 12 February 2012 and it has become definite that seven more candidates will enter the elections as well as G.Berdimuhamedow. In the elections, another two people that attracted attention were Annageldi Yazmuradov, Minister of Water Resources, and Yarmuhamet Orazguliyev, Minister of Energy and Industry. Moreover, the fact that president G.Berdimuhamedow approved transition to multi-party system in Turkmenistan gave the first signs of the changes in the country before the forthcoming elections and strengthened the authority of Berdimuhamedow.
During the period between the day when G.Berdimuhamedow took office and 12 February 2012 elections, Berdimuhamedow created a wind of change, the country started to catch up with the process of the globalizing world and develop economically. These can all be considered to be the indicators of the fact that Berdimuhamedow has been accepted. Therefore, G.Berdimuhamedow seems to be the most prominent candidate of eight candidates and the closest candidate to the presidency.
As a conclusion, it seems that the country will gradually develop and the traces of Niyazov will be erased when G.Berdimuhamedow takes office again. Especially, in internal policy, new candidates will possibly advance upon potential rivals remained from Niyazov power. In the new Berdimuhamedow period, Rashid Meredov, Minister of Foreign Affairs, who has been in the cabinet since 2001, will be possibly influenced by the discharge wave.
In foreign policy, the economic incomes provided thanks to the treaties in terms of energy that have been and will be made, should be used systematically for the development of both the country and the administrative units in order for Turkmenistan to have voice in the region. Moreover, Turkmenistan will both have a voice and rise in the collaboration lists of such countries Russia, China, USA, Turkey and Japan who have serious policies on the region within global politics.
Another striking feature of president G.Berdimuhamedow is that he is able to manage the crisis periods. Especially, the performance he delivered in both domestic and foreign policy during the presidency period since the death of Niyazov. He established a balance policy between among both neighbor countries and big countries-especially energy policy- and discharges the powers of Niyazov. One of the ultimate results of this policy was that in after Niyazov period, in domestic and foreign policy Turkmenistan was not worn out inside and outside. The possibility that current president G.Berdimuhamedow will win the elections means that the development process of Turkmenistan will continue. It means also that G.Berdimuhamedow is a leader who made himself accepted with his policies. Although, the word ‘’democracy’’ is mentioned with the name of G.Berdimuhamedow, he will try to reconstruct his country by using the natural resources efficiently. Besides this, G.Berdimuhamedow, who presented an environment that is open for improvement in many fields with his political experiences, will gain ground in becoming the second Nursultan Nazarbayev, who secured its position.
Uğur ERTAŞ
MSc Student at Uppsala University Specialization Eurasian Studies
Researcher on Eurasian Studies at IRST (International Relations Studies of Turkey)
Translated by Yasemin Taşçı
