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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Turkmenistan

  • Keeping it clean: Berdymukhammedov gives presents to children during the opening ceremony of a new presidential palace in Ashgabat last year.
  • White is a highly respected color in traditionally nomadic countries like Turkmenistan, where the color is associated with milk, a key staple of the nomadic diet. Here, Berdymukhammedov, in the white shirt, visits a shepherd's yurt in Ruhabat.
  • Berdymukhammedov at a cabinet meeting. The Turkmen president is frequently shown against a foreground of white roses, and is even the subject of an adulatory poem entitled "White Roses."
  • Berdymukhammedov participating in a government video conference from his presidential office. Even the traditional Turkmen carpet, usually woven in a range of reds, has been adapted to reflect the president's predilection for white.

  • No Turkmen presidency is complete without a photo on a horse. Here, Berdymukhammedov is pictured astride a white Akhal-teke stallion. Other equestrian portraits up the ante by adding a white dove landing on the president's shoulder.
  • Turkmen newspapers published identical photographs of a white-suited Berdymukhammedov on the occasion of his birthday, June 29.
  • The first day of classes at School No. 55 in Ashgabat. Many parents in the Turkmen capital have received school requests asking to provide their children with all-white outfits for performances and other special occasions.
  • Berdymukhammedov's predecessor, Saparmurat Niyazov (left), favored white himself, both in architecture and -- for a while -- his own hair, which prompted a poet to dub him a "white-haired angel." Niyazov dyed his hair black soon afterward.
  • Young people carrying white balloons attend a 2011 inauguration ceremony for a public building recently erected in the Turkmen capital. The color white is frequently associated with cleanliness and good fortune in Central Asia.
  • Berdymukhammedov serving as master of ceremonies during the unveiling of a new palace in Ashgabat last year. If white has become the dominant color in Turkmen celebrations, the emerald green of the Turkmen flag still serves as a close runner-up.
  • Even in leisure time, white is the color of choice for the Turkmen president, shown here bicycling with black-clad minders. Berdymukhammedov is frequently seen wearing white sweaters and fleece jackets during casual public appearances.
  • The Turkmen president on holiday in the western Caspian Sea city of Turkmenbashi. Berdymukhammedov began his government career as a Health Ministry dentist. But he's since sought to build his own power base and shrug off Niyazov's legacy.
  • Berdymukhammedov has even performed pop songs in an attempt to build his own personality cult. Here, he plays an all-white guitar for a performance backed by singers dressed in white and playing white instruments.

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Turkmenistan's 'White' Revolution

Published 19 January 2012

Since coming to office five years ago, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has sought to show off his own style of leadership -- all the way down to the color scheme. From his clothing to his carpets to the flowers that ornament his public appearances, everything in Berdymukhammedov's world is a gleaming, crystalline white. We look at Turkmenistan's own "colored" revolution.

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by: Zoltan from: Hungary
January 20, 2012 08:12
I think it's safe to say that the photo of Berdymukhammedov on the rearing horse is photoshopped! That's his head on someone else's body. Hilarious.
In Response
by: Anonymous
January 20, 2012 16:52
I don't think so, this event took place in a stadium with thousands of people present, poems are written on this action,