Turkmenistan President Unveils Gilded Statue Of His Favorite Dog Breed

The president of the central Asian country of Turkmenistan, Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, has erected a staggering six-meter tall golden statue of an Alabai dog to show his love for the breed.

The statue of the Alabai dog, a home-bred Turkmen variety of the Central Asian Shepherd, was unveiled Tuesday in Turkmenistan’s capital of Ashgabat.

The Alabai dog statue is situated at a busy roundabout in Turkmenistan’s capital of Ashgabat and comes with an LED screen around the pedestal showing the dogs in action. This is not the only golden statue in Ashgabat. Located at a different major junction is a statue that depicts the president seated on a horse, according to Reuters. The total construction cost for the statue of the dog is unclear.

The area that surrounds the Alabai statue is a residential complex designated for civil servants, according to Eurasianet.

The isolated desert nation, which takes pride in its dogs and horses, has officially listed the Alabai dog as a national heritage. President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov made a proud display of his love for the breed earlier when he presented Russian President Vladimir Putin with a pup in 2017. Berdymukhamedov has even written a book about the dog breed in 2019.

Local media said the monument of the dog demonstrates “Pride and self-confidence,” a key trait found in the Alabai dogs which are known for guarding homes in the country and even made to take part in dog fights, a popular form of entertainment in Turkmenistan.

Berdymukhamedov has held power in Turkmenistan, a former Soviet republic, since 2007. Despite the country making attempts to show off its wealth, a large portion of its population is still reeling from poverty. Turkmenistan was even ranked the worst country in the world for free speech by press freedom organization RSF in 2019 given the country’s poor human-rights records and secretive nature.

Recently, rights group activists had accused Berdymukhamedov of trying to suppress information in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic after he banned the country’s residents from using the word "coronavirus" despite the neighboring nation Iran recording an alarming uptick in COVID-19 cases.