The new city will be called “Arkadag”, meaning “Hero Protector” – a title borne by Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, president from 2006 to 2022
Small and isolated Turkmenistan is to spend nearly $5 billion, more than a tenth of its annual GDP, to build an entire city named after the country’s 65-year-old former president, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.
The former Soviet republic washed by the Caspian Sea, with about six million inhabitants, has been ruled for more than 16 years by the Berdimuhamedovs and derives its wealth from the sale of its vast natural gas reserves.
The new city under construction will be called “Arkadag”, which means “Hero Protector” – a title borne by Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, president of Turkmenistan from 2006 to 2022, a former dentist known for his extravagance.
Turkmenistan’s current president, Serdar Berdymukhamedov, 41, was elected in 2022, but appears to be ruling in the shadow of his father, who has been designated “head of the Turkmen nation.”
A city of “national importance”
“The first stage of construction of the city of Arkadag costs about 3.3 billion dollars, and according to our estimates, the second stage will cost about 1.5 billion dollars,” said the representative of the state commission responsible for the construction of the city Deryagweldi Orazov.
According to the same source, the exact cost will be determined after the call for tenders. But it already far exceeds the figure of 1.5 billion announced in February 2020. As an indication, Turkmenistan’s GDP is about $45 billion, according to the World Bank.
It should be noted that international human rights organizations accuse the government of Turkmenistan of lavishly spending revenues from natural resources on grandiose projects that bring very little benefit to the population.
No date has been set for the start of construction on Arkadag, which should eventually be able to accommodate 73,000 residents and is located about 30 kilometers from the capital Ashgabat, in a seismic zone.
This city of “national importance”, a status that the capital does not even have, aims to become a smart city.
Gurbaguly Berdymukhamedov instructed the government to consider the inclusion of Arkadyag in the Guinness Book of Records, a city he considers to be “the most beautiful, the most original and the largest in the region.”
Source :Skai
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