Turkmenistan Trip

The politics of Turkmenistan take place in the framework of a presidential republic, with the President both head of state and head of government. Turkmenistan has a single-party system.

After 69 years as part of the Soviet Union (including 67 years as a union republic), Turkmenistan declared its independence on October 27, 1991.

President for Life Saparmurat Niyazov, a former bureaucrat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, ruled Turkmenistan from 1985, when he became head of the Communist Party of the Turkmen SSR, until his death in 2006. He retained absolute control over the country after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. On December 28, 1999, Niyazov was declared President for Life of Turkmenistan by the Mejlis (parliament), which itself had taken office a week earlier in elections that included only candidates hand-picked by President Niyazov. No opposition candidates were allowed.

The current President of Turkmenistan is Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedow, who took control following Niyazov’s 2006 death.

The former Communist Party, now known as the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan, is the only one legally-permitted to operate. Political gatherings are illegal unless government sanctioned.