(Read full article on rferl.org)

Serdar Berdymukhammedov, son of long-standing autocratic Turkmen leader Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, has taken office as president.

The younger Berdymukhammedov was sworn in as president during an inauguration ceremony at the Palace of Spirituality in the capital, Ashgabat.

“This day will become a special milestone in the history of the independent and neutral fatherland, marking the irreversibility of the democratic transformations launched in our country,” the state news agency TDH said in its coverage of the event.

Turkmenistan, which is widely considered to be an authoritarian state, received Freedom House’s lowest ranking in terms of democratic progress in 2020.

Serdar Berdymukhammedov’s victory in a snap presidential election on March 12 came after his 64-year-old father, who came to power in late 2006, announced in February that he was stepping down to give way to “young leaders.”