12/18/2009 13:57 09ASHGABAT1633
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RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 6025
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RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 4206
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1332
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 001633

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN
EO 12958 DECL: 12/17/2019
TAGS PGOV, PINR, TX
SUBJECT: BERDIMUHAMEDOV AND TURKMENISTAN'S RULING FAMILY

REF: ASHGABAT 1503

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Sylvia Reed Curran. Reasons
1.4 (B) and (D).

¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Turkmen President Berdimuhammedov is vain,
fastidious, vindictive, a micro-manager, and a bit of an Ahal
Teke "nationalist." He also is the only son in a family of
eight children. His father is a retired prison guard with the
rank of colonel. The father, many in Turkmenistan think, is
more intelligent than the son. Berdimuhamedov reportedly has
a Turkmen wife and a Russian mistress. He has two daughters
and a son with his Turkmen spouse and a daughter with his
Russian wife. One of his sons-in-law runs the London office
of the Turkmen State Agency for Management and Use of
Hydrocarbon Resources. His other daughter lives with her
husband, a diplomat, in Paris. Berdimuhamedov's second oldest
sister, Aynabat, was at the center of a bribery case at the
Turkmenistan World Languages Institute. Her son was also
involved in corrupt activity when he helped the Turkish
company ERKU receive prestigious construction projects in
2007-2008. The president's nephews frequently figure in
lucrative deals and businesses. END SUMMARY.

¶2. (C) President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov is the "decider"
for the state of Turkmenistan. Since his word is often law,
it is beneficial to understand what makes him tick and to
know something about those closest to him, his family.
According to a medical school classmate (protect) of the
President, who has known him for 30 years, Berdimuhamedov is
vain, suspicious, guarded, strict, very conservative, a
practiced liar, "a good actor," and vindictive (reftel). In
fact, this source noted that a fellow classmate had called
Berdimuhamedov a name sometime during their second year of 
study.  More than 30 years later, after Berdimuhamedov became 
president, he ordered the man fired.
Our source said that while he usually forgets something after
a few months or a year, Berdimuhamedov never forgets. Our
source described Berdimuhamedov as a micromanager. He said
that the president signs off on work schedules for experienced
doctors.

¶3. (C) Our source said Berdimuhamedov is very clean and
neat and requires all around him to be the same. When the two of
them worked in the same hospital, even after our source had 
cleaned his area and cabinets, Berdimuhamedov would remark
they were not clean enough. When Berdimuhamedov became the
head of a dental clinic, he insisted that the other men who
worked there had creases in their pants. About 30 years ago,
when Berdimuhamedov owned an old Russian car, he would leave
it at home if it rained and take a taxi instead.

¶4. (C) Berdimuhamedov apparently does not think all Turkmen
are the same. He once told our source that the true and first
Turkmen come from the area between Kaka and Baharly in Ahal
Province. Other people are not real Turkmen.

¶5. (C) Berdimuhamedov does not like people who are smarter
than he is. Since he's not a very bright guy, our source
offered, he is suspicious of a lot of people. Our source
claimed Berdimuhamedov did not like America, Iran, or turkey,
but likes China. (COMMENT: Berdimuhamedov probably views
other countries in terms of what they can do for him and his
country, rather than in terms of like or dislike. END
COMMENT.) He also asserted that the president is not fond of
either Uzbek President Karimov or Kazakhstan President
Nazarbayev.

BORN OF GOODLY PARENTS

¶6. (SBU) Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov's father, Myalikguly
Berdimuhamedov, worked as a senior Interior Ministry officer
in a prison guard detachment. He retired as a Colonel of

ASHGABAT 00001633 002 OF 002

Internal Troops. In local public opinion, the father is
rumored to be far more intelligent than his son. The
president's mother was a housewife. The president's parents
now live with their son in the official residence in Firuza
Valley, which is 19 km from Ashgabat. His grandfather
Berdimuhamed Annayev was the principal of a school in his
native village of Izgant.

WIFE, MISTRESS AND CHILDREN

¶7. (C) Berdimuhammedov is married and has two daughters and
one son, Serdar. The oldest daughter is married to Yhlasgeldi
Amanov, who is a representative of the Turkmen Agency for Use
and Management of Hydrocarbon Resources for Europe, posted in
London. His other daughter lives with her husband, who works
at the Turkmenistan Embassy in Paris. A local Turkmen
entrepreneur claims this daughter has a villa on the Cote
d'Azure in southern France. There is a rumor among Ashgabat
residents that Berdimuhamedov has a mistress, in addition to
his Turkmen wife, who is reportedly very conservative. The
mistress is supposedly an ethnic Russian by the name of
Marina. She was reportedly a nurse at a dental clinic where
Berdimuhamedov worked earlier in his career, and has a
14-year old daughter with the president. Berdimuhamedov's
wife has reportedly been living in London since 2007.

SISTERS-HOUSEWIVES, SISTERS-TEACHERS AND SISTERS-BUSINESSWOMEN

¶8. (SBU) Berdimuhamedov is the only son in his family of
eight children. One of the younger sisters teaches at the
Turkmen National Economy University; another, the youngest
one, is a housewife married to a Central Bank employee. His
second oldest sister, Aynabat Berdimuhamedova, actively
exploits the influence of her brother. According to an
agricultural university professor, his colleagues at the
World Languages Institute of Turkmenistan will no longer be
pressured by the president's family during admission exams. In
the summer of 2008, Aynabat Berdimuhamedova used her family
connections to influence the admissions process at the
language institute, allegedly taking bribes in exchange for
successful admission. In order to avoid a scandal due to
public exposure, Berdimuhamedov sent Aynabat to London in the
summer of 2009 until examinations were complete.

BUSINESS-NEPHEWS

¶9. (SBU) According to local entrepreneur Vepa Bailliev, one
of the president's nephews in 2009 offered one million USD as
an investment into the Bailiyev's successful construction
business. Turkish construction company ERKU reportedly
received many prestigious projects in Ashgabat through one
the president's nephews, perhaps the son of the Aynabat.

¶10. (SBU) COMMENT:
Berdimuhamedov has gone to great lengths to conceal
information about his family and personal life from the
public. For a public figure who tries to project an image as
a renaissance man, whether it be author, surgeon, pilot,
sportsman or statesman, the failure to cultivate a "family
man" image leaves a void that the public is ready to fill.
END COMMENT.

CURRAN