President of Turkmenistan

{{Short description|Head of state and head of government of Turkmenistan}}

{{Infobox official post

| post = President

| body = Turkmenistan

| native_name = {{lang|tk|Türkmenistanyň prezidenti}}

| insignia = Emblem of Turkmenistan.svg

| insigniasize =

| insigniacaption = Emblem of Turkmenistan

| insigniaalt =

| flag = Flag of the President of Turkmenistan.svg

| flagsize =

| flagalt =

| flagborder = yes

| flagcaption = Standard of the president of Turkmenistan

| image = Vladimir Putin and Serdar Berdimuhamedow (2022-06-10) 02 (cropped).jpg

| imagesize = 200px

| alt =

| imagecaption =

| incumbent = Serdar Berdimuhamedow

| acting =

| incumbentsince = 19 March 2022

| department =

| style = Mr President
{{small|(informal)}}
Distinguished President of Turkmenistan
{{small|(formal)}}
His Excellency[https://web.archive.org/web/20120927014351/http://www.un.int/protocol/documents/Hspmfm.pdf UNITED NATIONS HEADS OF STATE HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MINISTERS FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS Protocol and Liaison Service]
{{small|(diplomatic)}}

| type = Head of state
Head of government
Commander-in-Chief

| status =

| abbreviation =

| member_of = {{Plainlist|

}}

| reports_to =

| residence = Oguzhan Presidential Palace

| seat = Ashgabat

| nominator =

| appointer = Direct popular vote

| appointer_qualified =

| termlength = Seven years,

| termlength_qualified = renewable

| constituting_instrument = Constitution of Turkmenistan (1992)

| precursor =

| formation = {{start date and age|df=y|1990|11|2}} {{small|(Turkmen SSR)}}
{{start date and age|df=y|1991|10|27}} {{small|(Turkmenistan)}}

| first = Saparmyrat Nyýazow

| last =

| abolished =

| superseded_by =

| succession = Chairman of the Assembly of Turkmenistan

| unofficial_names =

| deputy = Vice President of Turkmenistan

| salary = 442,800 Turkmenistani manat/10,800 USD annually{{cite web|url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/711288|title=Зарплата для избранных|date=9 October 2006|website=www.kommersant.ru}}

| website =

| footnotes =

}}

The president of Turkmenistan ({{langx|tk|Türkmenistanyň prezidenti}}), officially the president and chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan, is the head of state and head of government of Turkmenistan. The president is also the supreme commander in chief of the Armed Forces of Turkmenistan and heads the State Security Council.

Serdar Berdimuhamedow is the current president of Turkmenistan, the third in the history of the country since it gained independence with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. He succeeded his father, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow when the latter stepped down in 2022 after a reign of 15 years, the first president to do so. In the 2022 election, Berdimuhamedow received 72.97% of the country's popular vote against nine other candidates. International observers have criticized the honesty of this election.{{cite web |title=Turkmenistan leader's son wins presidential election |url=https://apnews.com/article/central-asia-asia-turkmenistan-presidential-elections-elections-3d13e95fe055bf53525141c351708488 |website=AP NEWS |publisher=Associated Press |access-date=15 March 2022 |language=en |date=15 March 2022 |url-status=live |archive-date=15 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220315073122/https://apnews.com/article/central-asia-asia-turkmenistan-presidential-elections-elections-3d13e95fe055bf53525141c351708488 }} The country passed reforms in 2016 eliminating term limits for the presidency and removing the previous age requirement of below 70, as well as extending the term from five to seven years.{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/asia/21716898-there-were-eight-other-candidates-president-turkmenistan-wins-re-election-98|title=The president of Turkmenistan wins re-election with 98% of the vote|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=26 February 2017}}

Requirements for presidents, removal from office, and succession

Requirements for candidates for president of Turkmenistan include the following:{{Cite web|url=http://www.turkmenistan.gov.tm/_ru/laws/|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120805173722/http://www.turkmenistan.gov.tm/_ru/laws/?laws=01dw|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 August 2012|title=Законодательство - «Туркменистан: золотой век»}}

Must have been born in Turkmenistan
Must be fluent in Turkmen
Must be at least 40 years old
Must have resided in Turkmenistan for the past 15 consecutive years
Must be employed

The powers of the president of Turkmenistan may be terminated in accordance with article 57 of the Turkmen constitution in the event of:

Inability to perform their duties due to illness
Violation of the constitution and public laws
A vote of no confidence in the president

Should the president be removed from office as well as in the event of death or resignation, the chairman of the Assembly is legally appointed as acting president, with elections being held no later than 60 days after the fact. This has never taken place; in 2006, when Turkmenistan's only presidential vacancy occurred due to Nyýazow's death in office, the State Security Council of Turkmenistan transferred the right to act as President to the first deputy chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers on an ad-hoc basis. The requirement that an acting president does not have the right to run for president was also dropped.

Residence

The Oguzkhan Presidential Palace is the principal residence/workplace of the president, located on Independence Square in Ashgabat. The various halls of the palace are used to receive foreign leaders and sign presidential decrees. Former President Saparmyrat Nyýazow owned a private residence in an official residence in Arshabil, a town 28 kilometres outside of Ashgabat.{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fzuEDwAAQBAJ&q=Arshabil&pg=PT217 |title = Inside Central Asia: A Political and Cultural History of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz stan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Iran|isbn = 9781590203781|last1 = Hiro|first1 = Dilip|date = November 2011| publisher=Abrams }}

Transport and security

The president of Turkmenistan utilises a specially made Boeing 777-200LR, painted in the national colours, during international and regional visits. These planes are provided by Turkmenistan Airlines. The president employs a Mercedes-Benz S-Class vehicle to transport him throughout the capital city. On some occasions, the vehicle is escorted by a mounted troop from the armed forces. The president also utilises trains to transport them from one place to another.

File: Independence Day Parade - Flickr - Kerri-Jo (51).jpg

The ' Presidential Security Service (Prezidentiniň howpsuzlyk gullugy) is responsible for ensuring the protection and security of the president. Established in November 1990, it is a direct reporting body of the President of Turkmenistan. In the early 1990s, the Presidential Security Service was removed from the National Security Committee and transformed into an independent body. On 23 September 1994, the Law of Turkmenistan "On the operative-search activity" came into force, according to which one of the main tasks of the service is to ensure the security of the President of Turkmenistan.{{Cite web|url=http://base.spinform.ru/show_doc.fwx?rgn=2421|title=Закон Туркменистана "Об оперативно-розыскной деятельности"|website=base.spin form.ru}} During state visits to foreign countries, the service provides at least 10 agents to protect the president.{{Cite web|url=https://pikabu.ru/story/koechto_o_prezidentskoy_okhrane_5967301|title=Кое-что о президентской охране|date=15 June 2018 }} The Presidential Security Service is organised in the following way:

Secretariat
Duty Division
1st Division (Personal guard of the president)
2nd Division
3rd Division
4th Division
Special Operations Regiment
1st Battalion
2nd Battalion
3rd Battalion

The Presidential Security Service is currently composed of 2,000 employees.{{Cite web|url=https://en.hronikatm.com/2013/06/some-facts-about-the-presidential-security-team/|title=Some facts about the Presidential security team | Chronicles of Turkmenistan|date=14 June 2013}}

List of presidents of Turkmenistan

References

External links

[https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35884.htm U.S. State Department profile of Turkmenistan]
[http://www.tmrepublican.org/ Republican Party of Turkmenistan]

Category:Politics of Turkmenistan

President

Category:1990 establishments in the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic