# Turkmenistan > [!info] Gateway page > One of the fifteen former Soviet republics compared at [[Post-Soviet States]]. **Turkmenistan** opted out of the post-Soviet sorting altogether. Its permanent neutrality, recognized by the UN General Assembly on 12 December 1995, keeps it out of every Russia-led bloc; its closed, dynastic government keeps it out of every Western one. In practice the neutrality has a customer: [[China]], which buys its gas. | Item | Detail | |---|---| | Independence | 27 October 1991, after a referendum with an official 94% yes vote | | Head of state | President Serdar Berdimuhamedow, elected March 2022 | | Behind the presidency | His father, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, chairs the Halk Maslahaty (People's Council) — the "supreme" representative body since January 2023 — and holds the title "National Leader" with legal immunity | | Russia-led blocs | CIS associate member since August 2005 (never ratified the charter); not in the CSTO, [[Eurasian Economic Union]] or [[Shanghai Cooperation Organisation]] | | Russian forces | None known | | Population | Official 2022 census: 7,057,841 — widely disputed; RFE/RL sources put the real figure far lower | ## The arrangement The 2022 transfer of the presidency from father to son, with the father then elevated above the presidency through the People's Council, is the post-Soviet space's most literal dynastic succession. See [[Dynasties Hub]] for the vault's broader treatment of inherited power. ## Where it stands with Moscow Isolated by choice, dependent on Beijing by necessity. On 17 April 2026 Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang broke ground with Serdar Berdimuhamedow on the fourth phase of the Galkynysh gas field. Russia has no troops here and little leverage beyond the residual CIS tie. > [!warning] Data quality > Turkmenistan publishes little verifiable data. Treat official figures — population above all — as claims, not measurements. ## See Also - [[Post-Soviet States]] — all fifteen former republics compared - [[China]] - [[Dynasties Hub]]