Turkmenistan’s two Presidents

For four years now, the forty-year-old Serdar Berdymukhamedov has held the office of president in Ashgabat, but his father, Gurbanguly, continues to present himself at every opportunity – both at home and abroad – as the true ‘national leader of the Turkmen people’. The son may well be better prepared than his father in the fields of politics and diplomacy, but he confines himself to chairing government meetings for the benefit of the cameras.

Ashgabat (AsiaNews) - It has now been four years since Serdar Berdymukhamedov assumed the presidency of Turkmenistan, succeeding his 60-year-old father Gurbanguly at the age of 40, whilst the latter effectively remains the true president Arkadag, “father of the nation” and administrator of the country.

Although the two take turns attending international events, no Turkmen harbours any doubts as to who the true representative of the nation is. As Galja Ibragimova states in Azathabar, “sooner or later, if only as he grows older, Serdar will have to take on greater responsibilities, truly governing the country without his father’s support”.

The more the son relies on him, the harder it will be to demonstrate his full reliability; moreover, there are currently no signs of any moves to remove Gurbanguly – who has taken the chair of the Khalk Maslakhat, the “People’s Council” (the Turkmen Senate) – from the reins of power.

When Serdar visits countries his father had never been to, or meets foreign leaders whom Gurbanguly does not know personally, shortly afterwards the president-father in turn travels to meet these figures and visit these places.

In the autumn of 2025, Serdar travelled to Beijing and agreed with Xi Jinping on increasing Turkmen gas supplies, and in March of this year Gurbanguly in turn went to China to discuss cooperation in the gas sector as President of the Senate, a body he created specifically to retain power. The negotiations took place once again with Xi Jinping, demonstrating that the Chinese recognise his authority on a par with that of his son.

The Arkadag is described as the ‘National Leader of the Turkmen People’, and his desire to demonstrate his superiority at every opportunity also leads to misunderstandings, as happened in February this year. Gurbanguly had travelled to the US to discuss prospects for economic cooperation; instead of arriving in Washington, however, he went to Florida, just as Donald Trump was opening the session of the Board of Peace he had established, at his Mar-a-Lago residence.

Turkmenistan had not been invited, and Gurbanguly attempted to attend by offering Turkmen investment for American golf courses, but he was not allowed into the Board meeting. As a former president, he could not have been unaware of how meticulous the negotiations are for attending international events of that kind, but his true aim was evidently not to discuss relations between Ashgabat and Washington, but rather to reaffirm his own importance following his son Serdar’s previous meetings with Trump, which were regarded as diplomatic successes.

In October 2025, Serdar had attended a dinner as part of the ‘Central Asia-US’ format at the White House, and had sat alongside Trump, without any particularly intimate conversation; yet his presence beside the American emperor had sparked his father’s envy, who then sought in turn to secure a photograph alongside Donald, who, however, did not indulge Gurbanguly’s desire in the same way as the Chinese president. In the end, Turkmenistan’s ambassador to the US was dismissed, evidently for failing to organise the much-desired meeting.

Within the country, Gurbanguly continues to behave as the real master, and it is believed that all important decisions are made by him, whilst Serdar merely chairs government meetings for the benefit of the cameras, with statements and responses agreed in accordance with the role assigned to him as Arkadagly Serdar, the ‘son of Arkadag’.

Unlike his father, Serdar does not much like to show off, and does not act as a DJ at government meetings like his father, who used to get all the ministers dancing by singing at the top of his voice. On the other hand, the son is far more knowledgeable than his father in the fields of politics and diplomacy, having studied in Moscow and Geneva, which enables him to maintain good relations with all foreign leaders. Now he must succeed in winning over the Turkmen people once and for all.

Photo: Turkmenistan state media