Turkmenistan's 'gray cardinal' leaves government.

URL: http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/pp012509.shtml

(The picture above is of Turkmenistan's current president, because i wasn't able to find a photo of the defense minister that this story focuses most on.)

This week, the Turkmenistan government's oldest  cabinet member, their 'gray cardinal,' defense minister Mamedgeldyev, left the government supposedly because of health reasons. According to the article i read, Mamedgeldyev was a significant part in bringing up current president, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov after the death of . One suspicion that was expressed in the article that I read, was whether or not "health problems" where really the reason of Mamedgeldyev's departure. Some people are saying it could be because of the current president's indebtedness. 

Another interesting thing to ponder, is why the current president got rid of so man government officials. Two reasons for this is one, because he is very confident of his power and that he can do this on his own, and 2, because he is trying to get rid of government officials who could still be loyal to the old leader, Sapamurat Niyazov, who died in 2006. If this new president let Mamedgeldyev go, this could be just his way of making sure no one on his team ever had loyalty towards Niyazov. 

A question that i found very important to look at after i saw it in this article, was whether the fact that Mamedgeldyev's aid and support towards the current president lead to his success in staying in the government for SO LONG. 

It is also very interesting and amazing that president Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov started acting as president hours after Niyazov's death in 2006, and was officially elected in 2007. 

I think since we just witnessed the historical election of Barack Obama, it is of the utmost importance to know and understand what presidential elections and political important events are going on in other countries. I also think kids our age, and everyone for that matter, should know how different governments operate in different places around the world. 

~Vava.

Partner: Sydney.

Area of concern: Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia.