Begench Gundogdyev

Major General Begench Gundogdyev (Begenç Ataýewiç Gündogdyýew, Бегенч Атаевич Гундогдыев) 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
In July 2009, Gundogdyev was made deputy Minister of Defense and concurrently the Head of the Main Department for Procurement and Logistics of Turkmenistan. 4 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. In July 2011, he was promoted to the rank 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 January 25, 2013, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow promoted him to Major General. He was dismissed on October 5, 2015, being replaced by Yaylym Berdiyev, as well as being made the Commander of the garrison of the Naval Forces, a position he would keep until the Spring of 2016. On March 1, 2016, he was made the chief of the State Border Service of Turkmenistan and concurrently the Commander of the Turkmen Border Troops. On August 15, 2017, President Berdimuhamedow was lowered to the rank of colonel following his failure to handle incidents which took place 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 his current rank. He was reappointed as defense minister on June 14, 2018.

Private life
Besides the Turkmen language, he also speaks Russian and English.

Awards

 * Medal "For the love of the Fatherland" (2014)
 * Jubilee Medal "20 years of Independence of Turkmenistan" (2011)