Begench Gundogdyev

Major General Begench Atayevich Gundogdyev (Turkmen: Begenç Ataýewiç Gündogdyýew, Russian: Бегенч Атаевич Гундогдыев) is a Turkmen general and politician who currently serves as the 10th Minister of Defense of Turkmenistan under President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow. He previously served in this same position from 2011-2015, succeeding Yaylym Berdiyev.

Begench Gundogdyev
Minister of Defense of Turkmenistan
Assumed office
14 June 2018
PresidentGurbanguly Berdimuhamedow
Preceded byYaylym Berdiyev
In office
29 March 2011 – 5 October 2015
PresidentGurbanguly Berdimuhamedow
Preceded byYaylym Berdiyev
Succeeded byYaylym Berdiyev
Head of the State Border Service of Turkmenistan
In office
1 March 2016 – 14 June 2018
Preceded byMyrat Islamov
Succeeded byShadurdi Durdiev
Personal details
Born (1976-11-16) 16 November 1976
Ashgabat, Turkmen SSR, Soviet Union
Political partyDemocratic Party of Turkmenistan
Military service
Allegiance Turkmenistan
Branch/serviceArmed Forces of Turkmenistan
Years of service1993-present
RankMajor General

Biography

Early career

He was born in the city of Ashgabat in November 1976 to an ethnically Turkmen family. He joined the army in September 1993, attending the Military Institute of the Ministry of Defense and graduating in June 1997 with a degree in command and tactical artillery troops. In March 2012, he graduated from the academic faculty of advanced training for the high command at the institute. In June 2012 he graduated in absentia from the Military Academy of Belarus with a degree in state and military administration. From 1997 to 2009, he served in various positions in the Armed Forces of Turkmenistan.[1] In July 2009, Gundogdyev was made deputy Minister of Defense and concurrently the Head of the Main Department for Procurement and Logistics of Turkmenistan. Up until then, he was the Turkmen military attaché to the United States.[2] Four months later, he was made Chief of the General Staff, a position he would keep for 1 year and 144 days before he became the Minister of Defense of Turkmenistan, at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Defense Minister (1st time)

In July 2011, he was demoted to the rank Colonel for his handling of the 2011 arms depot explosion.[3] One of his first major appearances in this role was in the Turkmen Independence Day Parade, where he inspected the troops on Independence Square. Gundogdyev also oversaw military maneuvers in the Caspian Sea in the second year of his tenure.[4] On 11 March 2012, he visited Turkmen cadets at the Belarusian University of Civil Protection of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.[5]

Gundogdyev (right) receiving the report from a military officer in October 2011.

On 25 January 2013, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow promoted him to Major General.

Other positions

He was dismissed on 5 October 2015, being replaced by Yaylym Berdiyev, as well as being made the Commander of the garrison of the Naval Forces, a position he would keep until the spring of 2016.[6] On 1 March 2016, he was made the chief of the State Border Service of Turkmenistan and concurrently the Commander of the Turkmen Border Troops. On 15 August 2017, President Berdimuhamedow was lowered to the rank of colonel following his failure to handle incidents which took place on the Turkmen border with Iran and Afghanistan in July 2017, when four ISIS militants tried to cross into the territory of Turkmenistan.[7] Despite these incidents, he would be repromoted in March 2018 to his current rank.

Defense Minister (2nd time)

He was reappointed as defense minister on 14 June 2018.[8][9][10] On 22 January 2020, he received a "strict reprimand with the last warning for improper performance of official duties".[11][12] Among the things he was reprimanded for was the allowing troops to write off still serviceable cars to private individuals (for example, several ZIL and Ural trucks were sold from an autorot stationed in the city of Serdar).[13] In June 2020, Gundogdyev led the Turkmen delegation in place of the president at the 2020 Moscow Victory Day Parade on Red Square.[14]

Private life

Besides the Turkmen language, he also speaks Russian and English.[15] He is married with four children.

Awards

See also

References
  1. https://centrasia.org/person2.php?st=1247761326
  2. "Turkmenistan: New Deputy Defense Minister is Former DC Diplomat | Eurasianet". eurasianet.org. Retrieved 2020-12-25.
  3. "People responsible for explosions in Turkmenistan to be tried by military tribunal | Turkmenistan.ru". www.turkmenistan.ru. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  4. https://www.rferl.org/amp/turkmenistan-military-maneuvers/24692837.html
  6. https://www.rferl.org/amp/turkmenistan-reshuffle-/27291035.html
  7. https://en.hronikatm.com/2017/08/radio-azatlyk-the-border-service-chief-reduced-in-rank-for-the-border-penetration-by-the-isis-militants/
  8. http://www.turkmenistan.gov.tm/?id=16490
  9. https://en.hronikatm.com/2018/06/president-berdymukhammedov-makes-reshuffles-in-law-enforcement-agencies/
  10. https://en.trend.az/casia/turkmenistan/2917296.html
  11. https://www.rferl.org/a/turkmenistan-s-authoritarian-leader-reprimands-ministers-of-national-security-defense/30393408.html
  12. http://www.tdh.gov.tm/news/articles.aspx&article21201&cat11
  13. "Названы причины выговоров министрам обороны и нацбезопасности Туркмении. Новости Кыргызстана сегодня". kant.kg. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  14. https://tass.com/defense/1169851/amp
  15. https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/10ASHGABAT178_a.html
  16. http://infoabad.com/novosti-turkmenistana/ukazy-prezidenta-turkmenistana-o-nagrazhdeni-rabotnikov-pravohranitelnyh-i-voenyh-organov-turkmenistana.html
  17. http://tdh.gov.tm/?id=3837 Президент Туркменистана подписал ряд документов:
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