Turkmenistan President announces national holiday to celebrate favourite local dog breed

Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has created a national holiday in a bid to honour the local dog breed. The holiday is aimed at praising the Alabai, which is the Central Asian shepherd dog. Turkmenistan prides itself in horses and dogs and honours its centuries-old herding traditions.

Local dog breed honoured

Gurbanguly has published a book and wrote a song about the breed. He presented it to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a puppy in 2017. In the year 2019, he handed an Alabai puppy to the then Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

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(The statue of the Alabai, the Central Asian shepherd dog is seen in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020. Turkmenistan's autocratic leader has established a national holiday to honor the local dog breed, media reports said Tuesday. President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov ordered the holiday praising the Alabai, the Central Asian shepherd dog, to be celebrated on the last Sunday of April when the ex-Soviet nation also marks the day of the local horse breed, according to the daily Neutral Turkmenistan. Image Credits: AP)

Also, last year, in November, he unveiled a 19-ft long gold statue of his favourite dog breed, Alabai, in the capital city of Ashgabat. As per reports, the golden statue is mounted on a pedestal and it has a wraparound LED display screen that shows footage of real Alabais. The status unveiling video from the ceremony quickly when viral on social media. "Turkmenistan. The leader of this state, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, solemnly opened a monument for his favorite dog," tweeted Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut. As per reports, this is not the first time that the Turkmenistan President has honoured the breed. 

Read: Turkmenistan's Strongman Leader Says Country Has 'zero COVID-19 Cases'

In another significant development, Turkmenistan’s leader in November announced that his country had zero coronavirus cases. According to health and human rights journal, the reclusive country reported 0 fatalities related to SARS-CoV-2 infections. However, the autocratic government denial was subjected to speculations after footages related to the COVID deaths circulated on social media. But the Turkmenistan strongman leader insisted in the press that  “there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country”. 

Read: Turkmenistan President Berdymukhamedov Unveils 19-ft Golden Statue Of His 'favourite Dog'

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(Image Credits: AP)