Ministry of Defense (Turkmenistan)

The Ministry of Defense of Turkmenistan (Turkmen: Türkmenistanyň Goranmak ministrligi) is a government agency under the Armed Forces of Turkmenistan which is the executive body in implementing defense policies in Turkmenistan. The current Minister of Defense is Major General Begench Gundogdyev. It was founded in January 1992 with the assistance of the Russian Armed Forces. At its formation, most of the ethnic Turkmen employees were retired Soviet officials and members of the Communist Party of the Turkmen SSR, with other officials coming from small backgrounds such as chief of staff Annamurat Soltanov who had served in Afghanistan and Begdzhan Niyazov who had a career in law enforcement prior to his rising to his position.[2]

Ministry of Defence of Turkmenistan
Türkmenistanyň Goranmak ministrligi
Министр обороны Тукменистан
Roundel of Turkmenistan

Turkmen Defense Ministry
Agency overview
FormedJanuary 27, 1992[1]
JurisdictionPresident of Turkmenistan
Government of Turkmenistan
Headquarters4 Galkynysh Street, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
Minister responsible
Agency executive
  • Lieutenant Colonel Akmurad Anamedov, Chief of the General Staff
Parent departmentState Committee of Defense of the Turkmen SSR
Child agency
  • General Staff of the Armed Forces of Turkmenistan
WebsiteOfficial Website (in Turkmen and Russian)

Military Policy

Turkmenistan is considered to be the most neutral of all former republics of the Soviet Union. The country's military did not sign the Tashkent Treaty in May 1992, and is an observer in the Council of Ministers of Defense of the CIS. The neutral policy of Turkmenistan was also emphasized in relation to the 1996 Afghan War maintaining an even relationship with both the Taliban and the Afghan government. Following the events of 9/11, coalition troops did not appear on Turkmen territory, in particular, when President Niyazov refused to provide the German government with a base to store German aircraft, arguing that the country intends to continue to follow the principles of neutrality.

List of Ministers of Defense
No. Minister of DefenceTook officeLeft officeTime in officePartyRef
1
Kopekov, DangatarLieutenant General
Dangatar Kopekov
(1933–2011)		10 January 199217 September 19986 years, 250 daysNonpartisan–
2
Kasymov, KurbanmuhammedKurbanmuhammed Kasymov
(born 1954)		17 September 199824 May 1999249 daysNonpartisan–
3
Sarjayev, BatyrBatyr Sarjayev
(born 1945)		24 May 199926 June 20012 years, 33 daysNonpartisan–
4
Begenchov, GurbandurdyMajor General
Gurbandurdy Begenchov
(born 1956)		26 June 200114 March 2002261 daysNonpartisan–
5
Arazov, RejepbayRejepbay Arazov
(born 1947)		14 March 200219 September 20031 year, 189 daysNonpartisan–
6
Mammetgeldiyev, AgageldiGeneral of the Army
Agageldi Mammetgeldiyev
(born 1946)		19 September 200324 January 20095 years, 127 daysNonpartisan[3]
7
Berdiyev, YaylymColonel General
Yaylym Berdiyev
(born 1972)		24 January 200929 March 20112 years, 64 daysTDP[4]
8
Gundogdyev, BegenchMajor General
Begench Gundogdyev		29 March 20115 October 20154 years, 190 daysTDP[5][6]
(7)
Berdiyev, YaylymColonel General
Yaylym Berdiyev
(born 1972)		5 October 201514 June 20182 years, 252 daysTDP–
(8)
Gundogdyev, BegenchMajor General
Begench Gundogdyev		14 June 2018Incumbent1 year, 335 daysTDP–

Defense Ministry units, groups and areas
A welcoming ceremony for Sergey Shoigu at the Turkmen defense ministry.

Sections of the defense ministry's building houses of the following institutions:[7]

House of Officers

Based on the Soviet model, the House of Officers (Turkmen: Merkezi serkerdeler öýüniň) is the main cultural center of the military designed to improve Civil–military relations. It is the equivalent to Military officers' clubs in the United States. Concerts of military ensembles such as the "Merdana nesiller" Ensmeble, the Göreldeli Military Band and the "Sherhet Ovazlara" Ensemble of the State Border Service have performed at the House of Officers.[11] The house hosts receptions on holidays such as Defender of the Fatherland Day[12] and Independence Day. A special attraction of the House of Officers is the Museum of Military Glory, where numerous exhibits tell a history of Turkmen military history since the time of Oguz Khan. The building also has a stationary full-time professional television studio that prepares weekly television shows on the Altyn Asyr and Ovaz channels. It frequently hosts guests from the Military Institute and the military school.[13]

Milli goşun

The Defence Ministry issues its social and political magazine called Milli goşun (National Army) every quarter which has the information about the measures for strengthening of defensive capability of the country.[14]

Department structure

The defense ministry has the following command structure:

  • General Staff
  • General Directorate of Armaments
  • General Mobilization Directorate
  • General Directorate of Civil Defense and Rescue (Turkmen: Raýat goranmak we halas ediş baş müdirligi), it is the civil defense agency Turkmenistan. It is similar to the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations. It conducts joint exercises in the territories of industrial enterprises with non-militarized rescue workers of the enterprises themselves, developing tactics in the event of various natural disasters and rescue operations.[15]
  • General Directorate of Supply and Logistics
  • Educational Directorate

See also

References
  1. Opening Pandora's Box: Ethnicity and Central Asian Militaries. ISBN 9781428912960.
  2. http://factsanddetails.com/central-asia/Turkmenistan/sub8_7d/entry-4833.html#chapter-1
  3. "Defense Ministers of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan meet in Baku". Retrieved 2017-05-21.
  4. "In early 2009 Colonel Yaylym Berdiyev replaced General of the Army, Agageldi Mammetgeldiyev, who was allowed to retire for health reasons". GlobalSecurity.org.
  5. "Google Translate". translate.googleusercontent.com. Retrieved 2017-05-21.
  6. "Begench Gundogdyev appointed Minister of Defence of Turkmenistan | Turkmenistan.ru". www.turkmenistan.ru. Retrieved 2017-08-23.
  7. "Военный институт: горячая пора". Новости Туркменистана. infoabad.com. 2013-01-27. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
  8. http://tdh.gov.tm/news/en/articles.aspx&article16444&cat30
  9. http://www.turkmenistan.ru/en/articles/14475.html
  10. http://www.visor.com.tr/ref-galkinis-kosesi.php
  11. https://turkmenportal.com/blog/24690/bolshoi-koncert-voennyh-tvorcheskih-kollektivov-sostoyalsya-v-ashhabade
  12. https://turkmenportal.com/blog/7619
  13. http://www.turkmenistan.gov.tm/?id=3206
  14. http://tdh.gov.tm/news/en/articles.aspx&article16444&cat30
  15. http://www.turkmenistan.gov.tm/?id=10283
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.