Pillars of the Regime
Turkmenistan’s Enforcement Apparatus
Grazvydas Jasutis, Elizaveta Chmykh
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Turkmenistan’s enforcement apparatus is a central pillar of the autocratic regime. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the tasks and methods employed by the state security service and the police remained largely unchanged. Following the death of the Turkmenistan’s first president, Saparmyrat Nyýazow, his successor, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, saw to a purge of the institutions' personnel. But they remained a repressive apparatus where corruption and abuse of power are the order of the day. It has been no different under his successor, son Serdar Berdimuhamedow. The regime pays significantly less attention to the army. This is related to the state doctrine of “eternal neutrality”.
(Osteuropa 8-10/2024, pp. 223–232)