JAN. 13 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov fired Ashirguly Begliyev as head of the state-run Turkmengaz and replaced him with his deputy, Maksat Babayev. No reason was given for the sacking, although Mr Berdymukhamedov likes to rotate his key officials, possibly to ensure that noone builds up enough powerful enough to be able to challenge him.

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