The history of Turkmenistan is largely shrouded in mystery, its past since the arrival of Indo-European Iranian tribes around 2000 BC is often the starting point of the area's discernible history. Early tribes were nomadic or semi-nomadic due to the arid conditions of the region as the steppe culture in Central Asia was an extension of a larger Eurasian series of horse cultures which spanned the entire spectrum of language families including the Indo-Europeans and Turko-Mongol groups. Some of the known early Iranian tribes included the Massagatae, Scythians/Sakas, and early Soghdians. Turkmenistan was a passing point for numerous migrations and invasions by tribes which gravitated towards the settled regions of the south including ancient Mesopotamia, Elam, and the Indus Valley Civilization.
The politics of Turkmenistan takes place in the framework of a presidential republic, whereby the President of Turkmenistan is both head of state and head of government. No true opposition parties are allowed; every registered political party supports the second and current President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow.
The Democratic Party of Turkmenistan (TDP) is a political party in Turkmenistan. The party was led by former Soviet provincial Party leader Saparmurat Niyazov from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s until his death in 2006. In 2013 President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow suspended his party membership for the duration of his presidency. The current leader is Ata Serdarov.
The president of Turkmenistan is the head of state and of the executive power, is the highest official of Turkmenistan, and has the constitutional charter to act as a guarantor of national independence, territorial integrity, and adherence to the Constitution and international agreements.
The Halk Maslahaty was the highest representative body in Turkmenistan. It was abolished in the new constitution of 2008. Before 1991, it was known as the Supreme Soviet of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic.
The 1991 Russian presidential election was held in the Russian SFSR on 12 June 1991. This was the first presidential election in the country's history. The election was held roughly three months after Russians voted in favor of establishing a presidency and holding direct elections in a referendum held in March that year. The result was a victory for Boris Yeltsin, who received 58.6% of the vote.
Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow is a Turkmen politician who has been serving as the President of Turkmenistan since February 2007. Berdimuhamedow, a dentist by profession, served in the government under President Saparmurat Niyazov as Minister of Health beginning in 1997 and as Vice-President beginning in 2001. He became Acting President following Niyazov's death on 21 December 2006 and subsequently won the February 2007 presidential election. He faced no meaningful opposition in the vote and won by an overwhelming margin (89.23%). In the February 2012 presidential election, he was re-elected with 97% of the vote. In the February 2017 presidential election, he was re-elected to a third term with 97.69% of the votes.
Presidential elections were held in Turkmenistan on February 11, 2007, following the death of president-for-life Saparmurat Niyazov on 21 December 2006.
Boris Orazovich Shikhmuradov was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan from 1995 to 2000. He was sentenced to life imprisonment after he was convicted of participation in a plot against Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov in 2002. Little is known about his life is prison; it's even unknown if he is still alive.
Batyr Ataýewiç Berdiýew is a former politician in Turkmenistan, specializing in the country's foreign relations. During the course of his career, he was an ambassador and a foreign minister.
Parliamentary elections to the Mejlis (Assembly) were held in Turkmenistan on 14 December 2008, with a second round held in one constituency on 28 December 2008 and a revote in one constituency on 8 February 2009. The number of assembly members was increased from 65 to 125 in constitutional reforms enacted on 26 September 2008. It was the first election since Turkmenistan's independence in which, theoretically, parties other than the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan are allowed to take part since the constitution no longer defines Turkmenistan as a one-party state. However, no legal opposition parties had been set up and the fact that the election took place in single-seat constituencies greatly diminished the opposition's chance of gaining parliamentary representation.
Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov (Turkmen: Saparmyrat Ataýewiç Nyýazow, Cyrillic: Сапармырат Атаевич Ныязов; 19 February 1940 – 21 December 2006; also known as Türkmenbaşy or Beýik Türkmenbaşy was a Turkmen politician who served as the leader of Turkmenistan from 1985 until his death in 2006. He was First Secretary of the Turkmen Communist Party from 1985 until 1991 and supported the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt. He continued to rule Turkmenistan for 15 years after independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Parliamentary elections were held in Turkmenistan on 15 December 2013. Although they were the first multi-party elections in the country's history, both contesting parties claimed loyalty to President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow. The ruling Democratic Party emerged as the largest faction in the Assembly with 47 of the 125 seats, losing its parliamentary majority for the first time since independence. The elections were criticized by the OSCE, Amnesty International, and opposition groups such as the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights. Farid Tukhbatulin of the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights said that there was little difference between the two major parties, arguing that neither truly represented opposition groups.
The following lists events that happened during 2012 in Turkmenistan.
The 2018 Russian presidential election was held on 18 March 2018. Incumbent Vladimir Putin won reelection for his second consecutive term in office with 77% of the vote. Vladimir Zhirinovsky from the Liberal Democratic Party was the perennial candidate, having unsuccessfully run in five previous presidential elections. Other candidates included Pavel Grudinin, Sergey Baburin, Ksenia Sobchak, Maxim Suraykin, Boris Titov and Grigory Yavlinsky (Yabloko). Anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny announced his intent to run in December 2016 but was barred from doing so due to a prior criminal conviction, which may have been politically motivated, for corruption. Consequently, Navalny called for a boycott of the election. He had previously organized several public rallies against corruption among members of Putin's government.
Presidential elections were held in Turkmenistan on 12 February 2017. This was Turkmenistan's fifth presidential election and decided who would be the country's president for the next seven years. Incumbent President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow won with more than 97% of the vote, similar to the results of the 2012 elections.
The Turkmen Independence Day Parade is one of the main events celebrating the Independence of Turkmenistan from the Soviet Union in 1991. Independence Day is the main holiday of Turkmenistan. The parade is held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan every year and is the largest and most frequent military parade in Central Asia.
The Third Inauguration of Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov as the President of Turkmenistan took place on Friday, 17 February 2017 inside the halls of the Ruhyýet Palace, in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. It marked the commencement of the third seven-year term of Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. He secured a third term in office by winning 97.69 percent of the vote in the national elections that took place on February 12, 2017.
Gülşat Sahyýewna Mämmedowa is a Turkmen politician and deputy chair (Speaker) of the Turkmen Parliament, the Majlis. She was nominated by the Speaker and appointed by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow in June 2017, in accordance with article 80 of the Constitution of Turkmenistan.
Lieutenant Colonel Serdar Berdimuhamedow is a Turkmen politician and the son of the country’s President, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow. He has widely been considered to be the apparent successor to his father. Although little was known about him until recent times, Serdar rose to the political spotlight following his appointment as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in April 2018. Prior to that he had been a manager at the State Agency for Management and Use of Hydrocarbon Resources.
