Video Captures Turkmen President Bullying Officials

Your browser doesn’t support HTML5

When Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov took over as Turkmenistan's leader in late 2006, he seemed timid and uneasy with his new role. But a recent video obtained by RFE/RL's Turkmen Service shows a very confident Berdymukhammedov barking orders at officials and deriding Turkish businesses, which are among the few companies active in the isolated nation. The once-humble dentist appears to be following firmly in the footsteps of his predecessor, Saparmurat Niyazov. Video provided to RFE/RL's Turkmen Service by the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights in Vienna