A Turkmenistan poetess has written an eulogy to Akkhan, the steed of the country’s leader Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, to show her love for the central Asian nation's leader, opposition website The Turkmenistan Chronicle reported on Thursday.
The rhymed ode by Gozel Shagulyyeva appeared in the country’s main government-sponsored newspaper, Neutral Turkmenistan.
The poem extols both Akkhan and his rider for their natural grace.
“Arkadag sits so easy in the saddle. / Looks like meeting the populace pleases fate. / Everyone will mark your resemblance to each other, / You're the foundation of all life,” runs a typical stanza.
Shagulyyeva has made a name for herself with her previous odes to Berdymukhammedov, including one written in 2010, when he won the “Person of the Year” award in Romania, and another congratulating him with his reelection in February, when he swept 97 percent of the popular vote according to official figures. Both poems appeared in Neutral Turkmenistan.
Berdymukhammedov, 54, came to power in 2007, succeeding the late Saparmurat “Turkmenbashi” Niyazov, notorious for his cult of personality, complete with statues of himself, some of them gold-plated, peppering Turkmenistan's cities.
Berdymukhammedov has accumulated state awards and ranks since coming to power, and his reign was proclaimed “the Age of Might and Happiness” after the February elections.
The Turkmen president is a known equine enthusiast, having penned two books on the Akhal-Teke horse breed native to Turkmenistan. He was commemorated in March by an equestrian statue, on display in a museum in the country’s capital Ashgabat.
Attending racetracks was declared mandatory in Turkmenistan earlier this month ahead of the Horse Racing Day, a national holiday coming up on Sunday.
