Abstract
Purges in authoritarian regimes such as that of Turkmenistan are a standard tool used for their survival. Except for recurrent deprivation of middle and lower rank officials of their positions, several great waves of high-level purges have been observed in Turkmenistan in the almost fifteen years of its independence.
The trials started as early as in 1992, when then-prime minister Khan Ahmedov and his circle were forced to leave their chairs.