Victor Yushchenko has attended a ceremony in Ashgabat to swear in Turkmenistan’s new president, Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, according to the President`s press-office.
Mr. Berdymukhamedov won an overwhelming 89% of the vote on Sunday, the head of the central election commission announced.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Tajik President Emomali Rahmonov, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, Afghani President Hamid Karzai, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as well as speakers and top officials from Armenia, Belarus and Uzbekistan, came to Turkmenistan to honor the new leader.
The newly elected president hosted a reception in the presidential palace after the inauguration.
Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, 49, has been Turkmenistan’s health minister and deputy humanitarian premier. When Saparmurat Niyazov died, he was appointed as acting president and commander-in-chief. He will be the country’s president for the next five years.
