Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Turkmenistan’s longtime ruler, no longer holds the title of president; that has been passed, along with much of the public burden, to his son. He now reigns from the shadows as Hero-Arkadag (“Hero-Protector”), but he retains the ability to open doors.
Nearly 14 years after his last official visit, Berdimuhamedov landed at Paris’ Orly airport last Monday. He was in France ostensibly to attend the Franco-Turkmen Economic Forum, but the visit also saw him ushered into the Élysée Palace for an audience with President Emmanuel Macron.
Characteristically, his presence in Paris was kept quiet, receiving very little coverage even in the French media.
“It was much less discussed than the near-concurrent visit of the Syrian leader, Ahmed Al-Charaa,” Michaël Levystone, co-founder of l’Observatoire de la Nouvelle Eurasie, a Paris think tank told The Times of Central Asia. “You have to understand that Turkmenistan is a country that is virtually unknown to the general public in France – and for good reason: it goes out of its way to remain extremely discreet!”
“Bouygues has built numerous monumental buildings in Ashgabat since Turkmenistan’s independence,” Levystone told TCA. “I believe the head of the group is received annually at the Oguz Khan Presidential Palace, a building constructed by Bouygues during the Saparmurat Niyazov era. Many construction projects carried out by Bouygues – for staggering sums – justify, as part of economic diplomacy, a French diplomatic presence of substance in Turkmenistan.”
