| President of Turkmenistan | |
|---|---|
| Türkmenistanyň prezidenti | |
 Emblem of Turkmenistan | |
 Standard of the president of Turkmenistan | |
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| Style | Mr President (informal) Distinguished President of Turkmenistan (formal) His Excellency[1] (diplomatic) |
| Type | Head of state Head of government Commander-in-Chief |
| Member of | |
| Residence | Oguzhan Presidential Palace |
| Seat | Ashgabat |
| Appointer | Direct popular vote |
| Term length | Seven years, renewable |
| Constituting instrument | Constitution of Turkmenistan (1992) |
| Formation | 2 November 1990; 34 years ago (1990-11-02)(Turkmen SSR) 27 October 1991; 33 years ago (1991-10-27)(Turkmenistan) |
| First holder | Saparmyrat Nyýazow |
| Succession | Chairman of the Assembly of Turkmenistan |
| Deputy | Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan |
| Salary | 442,800Turkmenistani manat/120,000 USD annually[2] |
Thepresident of Turkmenistan (Turkmen:Türkmenistanyň prezidenti) is thehead of state andhead of government ofTurkmenistan. The president is also the Chairman of theCabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan, thesupreme commander in chief of theArmed Forces of Turkmenistan and the Chairman of theState Security Council.
Serdar Berdimuhamedow is the current president of Turkmenistan, the third in the history of the country since it gained independence with thedissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. He succeeded his father,Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow when the latter stepped down in 2022 after a reign of 15 years, the first president to do so. In the 2022 election, Berdimuhamedow received 72.97% of the country's popular vote against nine other candidates. International observers have criticized the honesty of this election.[3] The country passed reforms in 2016 eliminating term limits for the presidency and removing the previous age requirement of below 70, as well as extending the term from five to seven years.[4]
Requirements for candidates for president of Turkmenistan include the following:[5]
The powers of the president of Turkmenistan may be terminated in accordance with article 57 of the Turkmen constitution in the event of:
Should the president be removed from office as well as in the event of death or resignation, thechairman of the Assembly is legally appointed asacting president, with elections being held no later than 60 days after the fact. This has never taken place; in 2006, when Turkmenistan's only presidential vacancy occurred due to Nyýazow's death in office, theState Security Council of Turkmenistan transferred the right to act as President to thefirst deputy chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers on an ad-hoc basis. The requirement that an acting president does not have the right to run for president was also dropped.
TheOguzkhan Presidential Palace is the principal residence/workplace of the president, located onIndependence Square inAshgabat. The various halls of the palace are used to receive foreign leaders and sign presidential decrees. Former PresidentSaparmyrat Nyýazow owned a private residence in an official residence in Arshabil, a town 28 kilometres outside of Ashgabat.[6]
The president of Turkmenistan utilises a specially madeBoeing 777-200LR, painted in the national colours, during international and regional visits. These planes are provided byTurkmenistan Airlines. The president employs aMercedes-Benz S-Class vehicle to transport him throughout the capital city. On some occasions, the vehicle is escorted by a mounted troop from the armed forces. The president also utilises trains to transport them from one place to another.
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ThePresidential Security Service (Prezidentiniň howpsuzlyk gullugy) is responsible for ensuring the protection and security of the president. Established in November 1990, it is a direct reporting body of the President of Turkmenistan. In the early 1990s, the Presidential Security Service was removed from theNational Security Committee and transformed into an independent body. On 23 September 1994, the Law of Turkmenistan "On the operative-search activity" came into force, according to which one of the main tasks of the service is to ensure the security of the President of Turkmenistan.[7] Duringstate visits to foreign countries, the service provides at least 10 agents to protect the president.[8] The Presidential Security Service is organised in the following way:
The Presidential Security Service is currently composed of 2,000 employees.[9]
T Term extension referendum
† Died in office
| No. | Portrait | Name (born–died) | Elected | Term of office | Political party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||
| 1 |  | Saparmurat Niyazov (1940–2006) | 1990 | 2 November 1990 | 21 December 2006[†] | 16 years, 49 days | CPT (until 16 December 1991) | |
| 1992 1994[T] | DPT | |||||||
| 2 | .jpg) | Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow (born 1957) | — | 21 December 2006 | 14 February 2007 | 55 days | DPT (until 18 August 2013) | |
| 2007 2012 | 14 February 2007 | 19 March 2022 | 15 years, 33 days | |||||
| 2017 | Independent | |||||||
| 3 | | Serdar Berdimuhamedow (born 1981) | 2022 | 19 March 2022 | Incumbent | 3 years, 220 days | DPT | |
