Turkmenistan: Will Serdar succeed his father?

On 12 February 2021, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that 63 year old President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov had appointed his 39 year old son, Serdar, to the posts of Deputy prime minister and Chairman of the Supreme Control Chamber. This has renewed speculation that the president is grooming his son to be his successor. Rolf Zeegers, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, comments: "Serdar Berdymukham-medov had previously become a member of the State Security Council, assumed the post of Minister of industry and construction and been promoted to the post of Provincial governor. It certainly looks like a new dynasty is being constructed in Central Asia, the main goal being to keep the current regime in power. If Serdar does become the next president of Turkmenistan, it can be expected that very little will change, both for society in general and for the Christian community in particular."