Asia | Tin-pot dynasty

Turkmenistan’s horse-loving dictator is grooming his son

Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov wins elections with 98% of the vote and ruthlessly suppresses dissent

Saddled with Berdymukhamedov
|ALMATY

NORTH KOREA is not the only supposed success story in Asia’s fight against covid-19. In the middle of the continent, on the eastern shores of the Caspian Sea, Turkmenistan too has seemingly managed to go the past two years without a single recorded infection. Under President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov (pictured) its lucky citizens have been living in an “Era of Might and Happiness”. What is more, their president entertains them too, roaring around in racing cars, scoring bullseyes on the rifle range and catching whoppers on fishing expeditions. The economy is said to have grown some 6% last year. The country’s 6m people are prospering.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Not horsing around”

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From the October 16th 2021 edition

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