The rise of ‘daddy's girls’ to Central Asia's corridors of power

The ‘patriarchal’ traditions of the region seem to be increasingly shifting towards the female faces of the local ‘dynasties’. This is confirmed by the sudden emergence from the shadows of Oguldžakhan Atabaeva, sister of theTurkmen President, Serdar Berdymukhamedov, and daughter of the President-father Gurbanguly.

Ashgabat (AsiaNews) - The ‘heiresses to the throne’ of the Central Asian countries, Oguldžakhan Atabaeva, sister of the President of Turkmenistan, Serdar Berdymukhamedov, and daughter of the President-father Gurbanguly, has recently been added to the list. She has recently met many official representatives of political and social institutions, participated in various events and promoted her image, which until now has remained rather in the shadows. The ‘patriarchal’ traditions of the region seem to be increasingly changing towards female faces of the families in power.

Atabaeva was at the forefront of the international conference held in the new smart city of Arkadag dedicated to her father, on the theme ‘Year of peace and trust: the development of international activities dedicated to children’. The official photos don't show children or minors, but there are the presidential ‘daughters of daddy’, with Oguldžakhan next to Saida Mirziyoyeva, chief advisor to his father Šavkat, president of Uzbekistan. The conference was organised for the fourth anniversary of the charity for children, named after Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, whose daughter is now vice-president and executive director.

Since the dynastic succession in March 2022, when the Turkmen presidency was handed down from father to son Serdar, the sister has not taken centre stage as the only male in the family, and has not been seen in public, nor has the other sister Gulšan, nor has any information been released about their activities and careers.

The official age of the sisters is unknown, whether they are older or younger than the 43-year-old president in office. All that was known about Oguldžakhan was that she lived in London with her husband, Dovlet Atabaev, counsellor of the Turkmen embassy in England, and that the couple had returned to their homeland with the construction of the city of Arkadag, taking an active part in its planning and receiving an Arkadag medal from her brother for this.

Recently, however, Ms Atabaeva has stepped into the family spotlight in her public engagements, taking part in the new tree planting ceremony in her father's city on 22 March. Three days later she met with the vice-premier Bajramgul Orazdurdyeva, who is in charge of the science and culture sector, and on 28 March she promoted the conference on children, held in the first week of April, which invaded Turkmen television channels and newspapers, all under the strict control of state bodies.

As some residents of the Lebap velayat said in an anonymous conversation with Radio Azatlyk journalists, ‘when they start showing a member of the ruling family on television, it's clear that he or she is being groomed for some important position’, and many expect Atabaeva to be appointed minister or speaker of parliament.

Oguldžakhan has also become a star on social media, with videos and reports about her by the ‘state bloggers’ on TikTok and Instagram, where nobody dares to express anything less than enthusiastic comments.

Bruce Pannier, an expert on Central Asia, believes that Oguldžakhan Atabaeva's entry into the field indicates her father's desire to strengthen the positions of the family and himself, not limiting himself to supporting his son as president and head of the Senate. The elevation of daughters, in particular, appears to be a card to play to correct the excesses of ‘patriarchy’, and show society the importance of women.

This is in fact what 40-year-old Saida Mirziyoyeva has been showing for some years now in Uzbekistan, where there is no competition with brother successors, even if she is not favoured by the precedent of Gulnara Karimova, daughter of the first president Islam Karimov, launched into a diplomatic career and then cast aside by her father himself, dissatisfied with her excessive protagonism, and who ended up in prison after his death, with a 13-year sentence for malfeasance in 2020.

The daughter of Kazakhstan's ‘eternal president’, Dariga Nazarbaeva, also rose to the presidency of the senate in 2019, only to be ousted by her successor, Kasym-Žomart Tokaev, and disappear completely from the political scene. Other daughters and sisters in these countries have attempted to climb the family ladder to power, and now it is Turkmenistan's turn to seek ‘gender equality’ at the top of the State.