Begench Gundogdyev
Lieutenant General Begench Atayevich Gundogdyev (, ) is a Turkmen general and politician who currently serves as the 10th Minister of Defense of Turkmenistan under President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow. He previously served in this same position from 2011-2015, succeeding Yaylym Berdiyev. Biography. Early career. He was born in the city of Ashgabat in November 1976 to an ethnically Turkmen family. He joined the army in September 1993, attending the Military Institute of the Ministry of Defense and graduating in June 1997 with a degree in command and tactical artillery troops. In March 2012, he graduated from the academic faculty of  advanced training for the high command at the institute. In June 2012 he graduated in absentia from the Military Academy of Belarus with a degree in state and military administration. From 1997 to 2009, he served in various positions in the Armed Forces of Turkmenistan. In July 2009, Gundogdyev was made deputy Minister of Defense and concurrently the Head of the Main Department for Procurement and Logistics of Turkmenistan. Up until then, he was the Turkmen military attaché to the United States. Four months later, he was made Chief of the General Staff, a position he would keep for 1  year and 144 days before he became the Minister of Defense of Turkmenistan, at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Defense Minister (1st time). In July 2011, he was demoted to colonel for his handling of the 2011 arms depot explosion. One of his first major appearances in this role was in the Turkmen Independence Day Parade, where he inspected the troops on Independence Square. Gundogdyev also oversaw military maneuvers in the Caspian Sea in the second year of his tenure. On 11 March 2012, he visited Turkmen cadets at the Belarusian University of Civil Protection of the Ministry of Emergency  Situations. On 25 January 2013, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow promoted him to major general (one-star). On 28 September 2021, the president promoted him to lieutenant general (two-star). Other positions. He was dismissed as minister on 5 October 2015, being replaced by Yaylym Berdiyev, and appointed commander of the garrison of the Naval Forces, a position he would keep until the spring of 2016. On 1 March 2016, he was appointed chief of the State Border Service of Turkmenistan and concurrently the commander of the Turkmen Border Troops. On 15 August 2017, President Berdimuhamedow demoted Gundogdyev to colonel following the  latter's failure to handle incidents on the Turkmen border with Iran and Afghanistan in July 2017, when four ISIS militants tried to cross into the territory of Turkmenistan. Despite these incidents, he would be repromoted in March 2018 to major general. Defense Minister (2nd time). He was reappointed defense minister on 14 June 2018. On 22 January 2020, he received a "stern reprimand with the final warning for improper performance of official duties". He was reprimanded among other things for allowing troops to write off still serviceable cars to private individuals (for example, several ZIL and Ural trucks were  sold from a motor pool stationed in the city of Serdar). In June 2020, Gundogdyev led the Turkmen delegation in place of the president at the 2020 Moscow Victory Day Parade on Red Square. On 6 April 2022 Gundogdyev was concurrently appointed secretary of the State Security Council of Turkmenistan. Private life. Besides the Turkmen language, he also speaks Russian and English. He is married with four children.