ASHGABAT —
Turkmenistan marked a new holiday last Sunday
dedicated to its national
Alabai dog breed, to which its longtime leader has
already erected a gilded monument and written an ode.
اضافة اعلان
The new holiday took place on the same day as a festival
celebrating the Akhal-Teke horse breed, which Turkmenistan also considers part
of its heritage. The holiday included a contest to find the best of the large
shepherd dogs. President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, who has run the nation of
6 million since 2007, awarded the top prize for courage to a service
dog that
guards the border.
The authorities also organized a race for Akhal-Teke
purebreds, horses known for their elegant stature and metallic sheen. Last
year, the government erected a gilded Alabai statue on a busy traffic circle in
the capital, Ashgabat. Another street junction features a statue, also coated
in gold, of President Berdymukhamedov himself, seated on a horse.
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