Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, the former president and current chairman of the upper house of the Turkmen parliament, who celebrates his 65th birthday on Wednesday during a visit to Ashgabat.
The Russian head of state congratulated Berdimuhamedov on his jubilee, and the meeting also covered business topics. Earlier, Moscow also sent a telegram to Ashgabat on the occasion of this date.
Putin and Berdimuhamedov traditionally congratulate each other on holidays, including birthdays. Usually they not only send official messages, but also communicate by phone. Gifts are also exchanged: In 2017, Berdimuhamedov brought Putin an Alabai puppy named Verny as a gift for his 65th birthday.
The previous face-to-face meeting between the politicians took place in December 2021 on the sidelines of the informal summit of CIS leaders in St. Petersburg. Before that, they saw each other at the same event in 2019. During the coronavirus pandemic, due to epidemiological restrictions, Putin and Berdimuhamedov communicated by phone and at multilateral summits by video link. Thus, they had five telephone conversations in 2020 and in 2021 they had three. And this year, they spoke by phone twice: on March 14 and April 8.
Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov became acting head of Turkmenistan in late 2006, and was elected president in February 2007. He was re-elected twice (in 2012 and 2017) and served as head of state until early 2022, when his son Serdar Berdimukhamedov was elected to the highest government position in Turkmenistan in early elections.
Putin has repeatedly mentioned his warm relations with Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. During the presidential visit of Berdimuhamedov Jr. to Moscow, the Russian leader specifically asked him to convey his greetings to his longtime colleague.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS