Turkmenistan’s leader burns seized drugs on camera

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov personally destroyed some of over a hundred kilos of illegal drugs at a new facility earlier this week

Credit: Video grab

The president of Turkmenistan, one of the world’s most reclusive nations, has joined the country’s top security officials in burning over a hundred kilos of illegal drugs in his latest publicity stunt.

The country’s state television has released footage showing Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, a former dentist who has ruled the former Soviet republic since 2006, driving across the desert to a brand new facility where at least 122 kilos of illegal drugs seized in several drug busts earlier this year were destroyed on Tuesday.

The president, dressed in black military fatigue, examined plastic bags of unknown substances, one labeled “marijuana”, which were laid out in front of him on a picnic table.

In the video, which appeared online on Thursday, he was then shown hurling the bags one by one into a giant two-chamber oven standing in the yard as a dozen security officials looked on.

“Those present at the ceremony followed the example of the leader of the nation and took part in the burning of the narcotics and psychoactive drugs,” state news agency Turkmenistan Today said.

State media praised the new facility situation, about 100 kilometres north of the capital Ashgabat, for “guaranteeing the utter destruction of the narcotics.”

Turkmen officials saluted the president who arrived at a new facility to destroy illegal drugs

Credit: Video grab

Turkmenistan shares a long and porous border with Afghanistan, lying on one of the major heroin trafficking routes to Europe.

It is one of the least free countries in the world, and independent reports about drug addiction there are hard to come by.

Exiled rights activists reported in recent months a resurgence in drug addiction in the country after it somewhat died down in recent years.

State television often praises Mr Berdymukhamedov as the wise leader who cares for the well-being of his citizens in daily reports which offer a glimpse into the institutionalised adoration of the president, who was technically elected in a popular vote.

This is the latest in a string of publicity stunts. Last month, the Turkmen leader unveiled a gilded statue of his favourite dog in Ashgabat, and last year, he DJed the main holiday party on state TV.