Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow

Turkmen leader creating personality cult through eccentric public displays and authoritarian reforms

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow (b.1957), Turkmenistan's 'Arkadag' (Patron), has crafted one of modern history's most bizarre leadership cults:

• Released rap music video urging COVID vaccination (2021)
• Authored books on tea-making and horse breeding made mandatory school texts
• Built $1.5 billion 'Asian Winter Games' complex in desert (2017)

While suppressing dissent, he's implemented surreal reforms:

• Banned black cars as 'unlucky' (2018)
• Replaced Soviet-era months with Turkmen poets/heroes
• Hosted $12 million 『World Cycling Championship』 with 30 participants (2021)

His eccentric rule offers unique case study in post-Soviet autocracy.