Turkmenistan's President Wants You to Know He's a Badass Too

We thought Putin on a trike was kind of funny, but we found something even better! In a propaganda video that combines some extremely amateurish editing and bad Bollywood-like clichés, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov is trying really hard to make us believe that he’s just as dangerous and manly as his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. We’ll let you judge how afraid you are of the guy after watching the video.

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Berdymukhamedov was elected president of Turkmenistan in 2007. Formerly a dentist, he became Minister of Health under former President Saparmurat Niyazov. He was then appointed acting president after Niyazov passed away in 2006. His election a few months later brought a moderate reform as he got rid of some of the more, shall we say, eccentric policies of the former government.

Of course, his ego was bound to start shooting steroids at some point. His portfolio of self-celebratory actions includes things like the creation of a massive golden statue of himself and, more recently, a Top-Gun-looking propaganda video that shows him shooting guns, briefing his military units who politely clap, and leading a military procession on Can-Am Spyder tarted up in desert camo. Did he actually shoot all the targets right at the center? Nobody knows, but that's definitely what they want the people to believe. Fear not, good people of Turkmenistan, your president's got this.

The best part about the entire story is that as head of the state, the president is also general of the army. Thing is, Berdy has no military experience unless he enjoyed the occasional tactical root canal? Such precious footage eventually found its way into a parody put together by activists to the sound of Fight to Survive by Stan Bush. The result is delightful.

Source: The Drive