Ovezgeldy Ataev Former Chairman of the Parliament of Turkmenistan. Country: Turkmenistan

Biography of Ovezgeldy Atayev

Ovezgeldy Atayev was a former Chairman of the Parliament of Turkmenistan. He was born in 1951 in the village of Gurtly in the Ashgabat region of the Turkmen SSR, which is now located in the Ruhabat District of the Ahal Province.

Atayev began his career in 1969 as the head of the art club at the Ashgabat Regional Pioneer House. In 1971, he graduated from the Ashgabat Pedagogical School and started working as a teacher at Secondary School No.12. From 1973 to 1978, Atayev studied at the Turkmen State University and then worked as a senior laboratory assistant and later as a junior research fellow at the Department of Philosophy of the Turkmen Academy of Sciences.

From 1980 to 1985, Atayev worked in the Ashgabat Regional Court, and then he headed the Tegjen City Court until mid-1989. In 1989, Atayev became a judge of the Supreme Court of the Turkmen SSR and later the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Turkmenistan.

In November 2002, Atayev was elected as a deputy of the Parliament (Mejlis) of Turkmenistan from the Enevsky Electoral District No.10 of the Ahal Province. The next day, he was elected as the Chairman of the Parliament, replacing Tagandurdy Halliyev, who had retired. The Turkmen Parliament consists of 50 deputies elected for a five-year term. It is controlled by the highest representative body of the republic, the People's Council (Halk Maslahaty), which includes all the parliament deputies. The parliament is responsible for criminal and administrative legislation, as well as judiciary matters.

In December 2006, after the death of Saparmurat Niyazov, the President of Turkmenistan, Atayev was supposed to become the acting President according to the country's constitution. However, he was arrested and removed from office. The State Security Council and the government decided not to appoint Atayev to this position due to criminal charges brought against him by the General Prosecutor's Office. Atayev was taken into custody, and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov became the acting President of Turkmenistan. Some experts believe that a coup d'état effectively took place in the country.

On December 22, 2006, Atayev was dismissed from his position by the deputies at an extraordinary session of the parliament. He was accused of abuse of power, gross violation of constitutional rights of Turkmen citizens, and promoting tribal discord. Atayev and his wife were allegedly involved in an incident where they pushed the bride of their stepson to attempt suicide and tried to cover up the incident. The decision to dismiss Atayev was made after the Attorney General, Muhammadguly Ogshukov, presented a video recording from September 26, 2006, where Niyazov called Atayev for a "serious discussion" involving government officials and leaders of the security forces. Akdja Nurberdieva, Deputy Chairman of the Parliament, assumed the duties of the Chairman. Atayev was awarded the Order of the President of Turkmenistan "Bitaraplyk" and the Medal of "Gyarat".