Turkmenistan ruler unveils gold statue of his favourite dog
THE president of Turkmenistan, one of the most reclusive countries in the world, has unveiled a giant gilded statue of his favourite dog breed in the capital Ashgabat.
Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, a former dentist who has ruled the nation with an iron fist since taking power in 2006, presided over the televised ceremony on Tuesday evening.
At the end of the festivities filled with music and dance, Mr Berdymukhamedov, 63, was seen strolling on the new highway and looking up happily at the six-metre golden statue of his favourite Alabay breed, standing on a giant marble pedestal in the he middle of a roundabout of a new ew residential area for civil servants. rvants.
Turkmenistan’s s state news agency lauded d the statue for capturing ring the “dignity and cononfidence” of the Alalaba y, a Turkmen en variety of the Central ral
Asian shepherd dog which is included d in the country’s list t of national heritage.
The Turkmen leader ader previously resorted ed to other creative forms ms to honour his favourite rite dog breed: he has devoted a book t to the Alabay and writ written a poem about it, reciting it at a gove ernment s ession last year.
He also gave an Alabay puppy to Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, for his birthday on a visit t to Moscow in 2017. Russians were, ho however, appalled by Mr Berdymukhamedo dov’s handling of the dog dog, as he was shown taking the puppy by its neck and holding it in the air.
Mr Berdymukhamedov came to power in 2006 after the death of Saparmurat Niyazov, the country’s first postSoviet leader. Hopes were high at the time that the former deputy prime minister would dismantle Mr Niyazov’s cult of personality.
He may have lifted Mr Niyazov’s ban on opera and ballet but he has adopted many of his predecessor’s flaws in the gas-rich nation situated north of Iran.
Amnesty International in its recent report described Turkmenistan as “one of the most authoritarian regimes in the world” where “human rights violations are routine and severe”.