Last modified on Wed 29 Nov 2017 17.42 GMT. Hospitals outside the capital were closed, opera and the circus were both banned, and all schools and universities had mandatory classes for studying the Ruhnama, Niyazov’s book. At the event, Berdymukhamedov compared Turkmenistan itself to a horse. (1) Jean-Louis Gouraud, Petite Géographie amoureuse du cheval,Belin, Paris, 2017. The capital, Ashgabat, has a 68-foot (21-metre) gold-leaf statue of him on top of a horse on top of a marble block. It was the Turkmen leader who wrote the lyrics; the music was composed by his grandson. (2) Website of the French Institute of the Horse and Riding (IFCE). Upon taking office, Berdimuhamedow eased travel restrictions and reopened libraries in rural areas. © 2020 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. When Berdymukhamedov took over, the monument was moved to the outskirts of the city. Officially, the monument was commissioned after public clamour. This animal is a source of national pride and enjoys a worldwide reputation for speed and exceptional endurance; it can cover up to 1,000km in under a week. (3) President from independence in 1991 until his death in 2006. (...). Berdymukhamedov, who was formerly a dentist and then became Niyazov’s health minister, presided over a very gradual liberalisation when he first came to power after Niyazov’s death, reversing some of the late president’s more eccentric decrees. E very April the Turkmen Horse Festival, set up at the behest of Turkmenistan’s president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, celebrates the Akhal-Teke, a horse with a long back, small head, upright neck and sparse mane. It was the Turkmen leader who wrote the lyrics; the music was composed by his grandson. He was, however, bestowed with the new honorary title of “People’s Horse Breeder”. In form, if not in execution, it recalls the Bronze Horseman, a monument Catherine the Great had built in St Petersburg to honour Peter the Great. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, whom compatriots respectfully call ‘Arkadag’ [‘support’, ‘patron’], does not hesitate to show his personal talents. Last year his rapping ‘Sportive Turkmenistan’ hit the local headlines: Dear visitors, we would like to inform you that this website uses cookies to make our service more efficient. In time, however, Berdymukhamedov built up a personality cult that now rivals that of his predecessor. He also took steps to curb Niyazov's extensive personality cult. Turkmenistan’s equestrian-mad leader has been honoured with a huge monument in the capital city, featuring his likeness atop a golden horse. Twenty-five years of independence: Turkmenistan’s president on one of his Akhal-Tekes in Ashgabat, Website of the French Institute of the Horse and Riding. His image is ubiquitous in the desert nation, with huge portraits adorning billboards and buildings across the country. Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow has always been an authoritarian oddball, but recently his attempts to curry public favor have ventured into the bizarre. You may change your browser configuration and withdraw from getting cookies. Images of Berdymukhamedov on a horse are pretty common. And so, I will listen to the opinion of the people and do as they choose,” said Berdymukhamedov in 2014, in response to the proposal to honour him with a statue. Turkmenistan’s equestrian-mad leader has been honoured with a huge monument in the capital city, featuring his likeness atop a golden horse. Like many of his countrymen, Turkmenistan’s president worships this horse; he competed in a race at the track in the capital, Ashgabat, in April 2013, and won (though his horse collapsed just after crossing the finishing line). “Our country is moving forward with the speed of an Akhal-Teke stallion and I call on you all to move forward and only forward,” he said. The name comes from the Teke horsemen, the most powerful of the Turkmen tribes, feared raiders who lived in the Akhal valley, near Ashgabat. The Akhal-Teke is a symbol of Turkmen unity and identity, and appears in the centre of the national emblem, surrounded by five traditional rugs representing the main tribes. His ministers were forced to perform a gruelling annual “walk of health” through the capital. By using our website you give consent to receiving cookies from belsat.eu. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow—taking a note from Trump, Kim, and Putin—has been distracting us from human rights violations with puppies, horses, and a viral rap video. Turkmenistan’s official history claims Bucephalus, Alexander the Great’s charger, was an Akhal-Teke, and English thoroughbreds are partly descended from the same lineage. Niyazov travelled by helicopter and met them at the finishing line. De Bannes estimates the global total at 6,600 and rising. Berdymukhamedov, who has run the country since 2006 and is accused of presiding over one of the most pervasive personality cults in the world, is widely known as Arkadag, or the patron. (6) Turkmenistan has the most Akhal-Tekes (3,000), followed by Russia (1,600), then Europe, North America and the other Central Asian countries. The gold statue, however, recalls the reign of his predecessor, Saparmurat Niyazov, who was known as Turkmenbashi, or leader of all the Turkmens. Pierre Lebovics, France’s ambassador to Turkmenistan from 2010 to 2014, said: ‘When they were freed from Soviet control, less than 30 years ago, the new nation states of Central Asia emphasised unifying symbols of federation. The composition was unveiled in Ashgabat on Monday, to cheers of “Glory to Arkadag!” from assembled students, as white doves and balloons were released into the sky, Reuters reported. David Garcia is the author of a book on Turkmenistan, Le Pays où Bouygues est roi (The Country Where Bouygues is King),Danger Public, Paris, 2006. In 2013, during celebrations to mark the Day of the Horse – an official holiday – Berdymukhamedov took a tumble shortly after crossing the finishing line in a race he had won. (5) See David Garcia, ‘The desert kingdom of Bouyguestan’, Le Monde diplomatique,English edition,February 2015. It is possibly the oldest horse breed in the world, going back around two and a half millennia; there are claims that the analysis of remains in Scythian tombs proves the bloodline has remained remarkably pure. The horses of the Scythian tribes may have been Akhal-Tekes, and the direct descendants of what may be the oldest breed in the world are once again Turkmenistan’s national pride and joy. Cast in bronze and covered in 24-carat gold leaf, the statue of Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov soars over 20 metres from the ground and is perched on an outcrop of white marble cliff. “My main goal is to serve the people and the motherland. Every April the Turkmen Horse Festival, set up at the behest of Turkmenistan’s president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, celebrates the Akhal-Teke, a horse with a long back, small head, upright neck and sparse mane. For more information about privacy. On the occasion of the national holiday, Akhal-Teke Horse Day, president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and his grandson sang a rap song about his colt named Rovach (‘happy’ in Turkmen). All rights reserved. Equine historian Jean-Louis Gouraud writes of the Akhal-Teke that ‘when it moves, with long, skimming strides on the quivering springs of its fine limbs, it exudes an air of vigorous grace, a strange but harmonious blend of strength and fragility, virility and femininity’. Now, Berdymukhamedov has his own gold monument. Available for everyone, funded by readers. Niyazov ensured that gas-rich Turkmenistan remained one of the most isolated countries in the world, ensuring no free media, allowing little foreign travel and enacting a series of decrees that renamed the days of the week and months of the year after himself and members of his family. Niyazov famously had a gold statue of himself erected in the centre of Ashgabat that rotated to face the sun throughout the day. The Turkmen president is fond of horse-riding and has promoted Turkmenistan’s famous Akhal-Teke breed. Local and foreign horse aficionados meet at the festival for equine beauty contests and races, and the country, best known for its ultra-authoritarian regime, opens up for a few days. He called for an end to the elaborate pageants of music and dancing that formerly greeted the president on his arrival anywhere, and said that the Turkmen "sacred oath", part of which states that the speaker's tongue should shrivel if he ever speaks ill of Turkmenistan or its president, should not be recited multiple times a day but reserved for "special o… Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov gallops ahead in race to construct a cult of personality bigger than his predecessor’s, the late dictator Saparmurat Niyazov, Mon 25 May 2015 13.11 BST He has written a book about the horses and is frequently pictured on horseback or taking part in horse races. Amid scenes of confusion, dozens of bodyguards rushed to him, and all those viewing the race in the stadium were searched to make sure they had no footage of the fall when leaving. Rovach was presented to Berdimuhamedov at the beginning of 2019. AP Photo/Alexander Vershinin People gather at the unveiling of a monument for Berdymukhamedov in Ashgabat in May 2015.