Vladimir Putin has damaged the regulation in Turkmenistan by driving to a summit in a black limousine as a substitute of a regulation white or silver automotive.
The Russian chief arrived in Ashgabat to meet with Masoud Pezeshkian, the Iranian president, for pressing discussions on the rising conflict in the Middle East.
After his bullet-proof Aurus Senat limousine pulled up outdoors Turkmenistan’s palatial Chamber of Commerce, Putin walked up a steep flight of steps to met Serdar Berdymukhamedov, the Turkmen president whose father banned black vehicles as a result of he thought they have been unfortunate.
Putin later met Mr Pezeshkian and the 2 hailed their “shut” views on world affairs, with the Russian chief saying ties with Tehran have been a “precedence” for Moscow.
They held their assembly in Turkmenistan – one of many world’s most secretive states – amid hovering tensions within the Center East as Israel continues to focus on Lebanon’s capital Beirut with strikes it says are aimed toward Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group.
Relations between Russia and Iran, who’re each below Western sanctions, have strengthened because the Kremlin despatched troops into Ukraine in 2022, with Tehran extensively believed to be supplying Moscow with weapons.
“Relations with Iran are a precedence for us, they’re growing very efficiently,” Putin mentioned. “We’re actively working collectively on the worldwide area, and our views of occasions on the planet are sometimes very shut.”
In line with a Russian translation, Mr Pezeshkian mentioned relations between the 2 nations are “honest”.
“Our positions on the worldwide stage are comparable,” he mentioned.
Mr Pezeshkian described the scenario within the Center East as “tough”, saying “the USA and Europe are not looking for the scenario to relax”.
The short-notice assembly between Putin and Mr Pezeshkian is being held on the fringes of an obscure convention honouring an area poet. Putin was not scheduled to attend till just a few days in the past.
Mr Berdymukhamedov inherited the Turkmen presidency in 2022 from his father, Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.
Mr Berdymukhamedov Snr banned black vehicles in 2018 as a result of he thought of them unfortunate and spoiled his imaginative and prescient of the pristine capital, which is constructed out of white marble on the sting of the desert.
Former Soviet Turkmenistan lies on the southern fringe of Central Asia subsequent to Iran. It is without doubt one of the most repressive nations on the planet, with a dictatorship that has no free media or open political course of.
In its 2024 report on Turkmenistan, the New York-based Human Rights Watch mentioned all fundamental rights have been repressed and torture in jail was rife.
“Latest political reforms have solely deepened authoritarian rule. The federal government doesn’t acknowledge poverty and has did not take measures to deal with continued meals insecurity,” it mentioned.
Mr Berdymukhamedov Snr had been president of Turkmenistan since 2007 after his predecessor died of a coronary heart assault. Earlier than him, the nation was led by a dentist that constructed a golden statue of himself that rotated to face the solar all through the day.
Identified for each his eccentricity, Mr Berdymukhamedov Snr rapidly additionally constructed a golden statue of himself using a horse on a 20m-high plinth.
His hobbies have included producing rap movies together with his grandson, performing doughnuts in a rally automotive and main his authorities cupboard by way of fitness center exercises, that are all televised on mainstream Turkmen channels.
The 67-year-old can be a believer in wholesome life. He banned smoking in Turkmenistan altogether and insisted on mass biking days with authorities employees and college students wearing equivalent tracksuits finishing laps of Ashgabat.
Mr Berdymukhamedov Snr gave himself the honorific “Chief of the Nation” after he retired, which permits him to dominate Turkmen overseas affairs over his son.
