On March 6, 2026, Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov appointed a new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the United States: Esen Aydogdyev, who was transferred from the same post in Russia.
A career diplomat whose service spans the entire period of Turkmenistan’s independence and who has not been involved in major scandals (at least so far), Aydogdyev is considered one of the stronger figures in Turkmen diplomacy.
But even this strong link has its weak spots: 22 years ago, while serving as a counselor at Turkmenistan’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, Aydogdyev purchased an apartment in the United States.
He did so jointly with a woman while officially married to another.To be sure, Aydogdyev’s relatively modest 68-square-meter apartment does not compare to the large-scale property acquisitions of his predecessor, Meret Orazov, who served as ambassador to the United States for more than 25 years.
Orazov purchased real estate in bulk across various U.S.cities, including a large land plot of unclear purpose near the Canadian border.It is also known that Orazov not only invested in real estate but rented it out, including to employees of his own embassy.In any case, on August 26, 2004, Aydogdyev purchased an apartment in one of New York’s most expensive suburbs — the Fort Lee area of New Jersey — for $242,500, with a bank mortgage covering half the amount.
At the time, he had already spent nearly seven years working as a counselor to Turkmenistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations in New York, Aksoltan Ataeva.Fort Lee is considered a prestigious area, largely due to its proximity to New York City’s business center: it is located just minutes from Manhattan.
In addition, it offers many good schools, an active cultural life and low crime rates — overall, it is nearly an ideal place for family living.However, Aydogdyev did not move his family there.
In the lists of accredited diplomats and their family members, which are regularly updated and published by the U.N.Secretariat, his legal wife was listed as Nurgozel Aydogdyeva.
The couple had a young child and lived in a New York apartment rented at the state’s expense.However, in addition to his official family, Esen Aydogdyev had another one.
According to cadastral documents obtained by turkmen.news and Gundogar.media, he purchased the Fort Lee apartment at 2350 Linwood Ave., Unit 5A, jointly with a woman named Anzhelika Klochkova.
The ownership included the right of survivorship, meaning that if something happened to one of them, the other would automatically become the sole owner.That Klochkova was not merely a companion or business partner but in fact his wife is suggested by another detail: nine months after the apartment purchase, on June 6, 2005, they had a son, Azim.Although having more than one wife is not widely condemned in Turkmen society, the country’s Criminal Code is unequivocal: polygamy is prohibited.
Cohabitation with two or more women while maintaining a shared household is punishable by law, including penalties of up to two years of corrective labor.If Aydogdyev, while serving as a counselor at Turkmenistan’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, maintained relations with his first wife after purchasing the apartment with Klochkova and effectively supported two families, he would have committed a criminal offense.
He also would have engaged in conduct “capable of leading to negative consequences in the further execution of his official duties” (Article 13 of Turkmenistan’s Law on the Diplomatic Service).Nevertheless, his ambiguous family status did not affect Aydogdyev’s career.
On the contrary, he was soon promoted.On January 13, 2006, he was granted the diplomatic rank of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary and appointed ambassador of Turkmenistan to Austria.The favor shown to Aydogdyev by then-President Saparmurat Niyazov may be explained by the privileged position of his father, Muhammet Aydogdyev, director of the Institute of History under the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan, a professor and doctor of historical sciences, and vice president of the Humanitarian Association of Turkmens of the World.Niyazov’s successor, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, retained Aydogdyev as ambassador to Austria.
When Turkmenistan opened its embassy in Switzerland in 2011, Aydogdyev was reassigned there as ambassador and as representative to the U.N.Office in Geneva.It also became clear that he belonged to a circle of especially trusted figures: Berdimuhamedov sent his son, Serdar, to serve as an adviser under Aydogdyev, where he gained diplomatic experience and studied at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy.By that time, Aydogdyev had divorced Nurgozel and married Anzhelika Klochkova (born in 1969, one year older than Esen).
This is confirmed by lists of diplomats published by the U.N.Secretariat in Geneva.The same lists also included Serdar Berdimuhamedov and his wife, Ogulgerek.Little is known about Aydogdyev’s new family.
Anzhelika Klochkova does not appear on social media — at least not under her real name.Some details are known about Azim’s education.In November 2014, he was in the third grade at the joint Turkmen-Russian Pushkin School.
That year, his father returned from Geneva to Ashgabat to head the newly opened International University for the Humanities and Development (IUHD).Since 2023, Azim has been a student at the private Modul University Vienna in the Austrian capital.The reasons why Aydogdyev was recalled from diplomatic service and appointed rector were not officially disclosed.
According to his biography, after graduating from Turkmen State University in 1992, he served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and had no experience in academic or administrative work.
Nevertheless, for reasons unclear, no alternative candidate for the rector’s post at the university was found.Originally established as the country’s first university with a Western-style education system, under Aydogdyev it quickly became a typical Turkmen institution, where students are valued less for critical thinking than for loyalty, discipline, active participation in official events and vigilance toward their peers.
This was not solely — or even primarily — the rector’s doing: even with the best intentions, he could not operate outside an entrenched and flawed system.While the new university was initially allowed somewhat more latitude than others, these “shoots of liberalism” were soon cut down by conservative security services.While in Ashgabat, Aydogdyev took advantage of the situation and, in October 2019, obtained a Candidate of Historical Sciences degree.
Under Turkmenistan’s regulations on awarding academic degrees and titles, he could not do so at his own university while serving as rector.Information about the institution where he was registered as a candidate, as well as the topic of his research, was not disclosed.
It is only known that his dissertation, in which he systematized his many years of diplomatic experience, focused on international relations.Aydogdyev himself said this at the degree-awarding ceremony.A few years later, he was also awarded a Doctor of Historical Sciences degree.
Achieving this requires several years of serious academic work, teaching, publishing articles and monographs, and ultimately preparing and publicly defending a doctoral dissertation before Turkmenistan’s Higher Attestation Commission.
Aydogdyev presumably completed these requirements, but journalists have found no evidence of any notable scholarly output.Aydogdyev served as rector for nine years until November 2023, when his former subordinate — now President of Turkmenistan, Serdar Berdimuhamedov — returned him to diplomatic service, appointing him ambassador to Russia, a country regarded as Turkmenistan’s strategic partner.
In addition, Aydogdyev was concurrently appointed ambassador to Bulgaria, Serbia and Slovenia.He held these posts until March 2026, when he was transferred overseas.At this point, the story of the Fort Lee apartment took an unexpected turn.
On July 25, 2025 — eight months before his appointment as ambassador to the United States — Aydogdyev transferred his share of the property to his son, Azim, formalizing it as a nominal sale for a symbolic $10.
Whether the future ambassador was aware of his impending appointment and sought to cover his tracks, recalling the scandal involving his enterprising predecessor Orazov, or was guided by other motives, is unknown.
What is known is that, in addition to the apartment, another trail has followed him since the mid-2000s.There are strong grounds to believe that Azim Esenovich Aydogdyev, born June 6, 2005, was born not just anywhere, but in the United States.It is unlikely that his parents acquired an apartment near New York only for his 36-year-old mother to travel across the world to give birth in Ashgabat.
The U.S.Constitution enshrines the principle of birthright citizenship: children born on U.S.territory are automatically granted American citizenship.A potential obstacle could have been the father’s diplomatic status — in such cases, the child is not subject to U.S.
jurisdiction and is not granted citizenship — but that does not appear to apply here, as Esen Aydogdyev and Anzhelika Klochkova were not married at the time of the child’s birth.The U.S.
Embassy in Turkmenistan declined to confirm or deny to journalists whether Azim Aydogdyev and Anzhelika Klochkova hold U.S.citizenship.On March 20, 2026, Ruslan Myatiev, editor of turkmen.news, reached Aydogdyev by phone to ask several questions.
The diplomat was still in Russia at the time.At first, he did not understand who was calling, and once the editor identified himself, Aydogdyev quickly hung up.
The questions were then sent to him in writing.The ambassador read them but did not respond.The situation with Russian citizenship among Aydogdyev’s family members is clearer — Anzhelika holds it.
According to journalists, she became a Russian citizen in 2001, with documents processed through a Russian Foreign Ministry consular office, most likely in Ashgabat.Turkmenistan’s Constitution does not recognize dual citizenship.
The presence of a second passport held by the spouse of a senior Turkmen diplomat would be doubly concerning for the country’s authorities.Under Turkmenistan’s Law on the Diplomatic Service (Article 7, Part 4), ambassadors and permanent representatives to international organizations are appointed and dismissed by the president upon the recommendation of the foreign minister.
For the past 25 years, Turkmenistan’s Foreign Ministry has been headed by Rashid Meredov, who has served under all three presidents of independent Turkmenistan — his experience is unquestioned.However, the selection of individuals representing the country abroad raises questions.
In recent years, at least three senior Turkmen diplomats have been at the center of various scandals.Berdymurad Rejepov, former ambassador to Russia and now Turkmenistan’s representative in Germany, invested several million dollars in 2020 in a questionable business run by Russian socialite Marina Minina.
Judging by the tone of a leaked recording of their phone conversation, the two may also have had a romantic relationship.In May 2021, French media reported that the wife and daughter of Turkmen Ambassador Shohrat Jumayev filed complaints with police alleging domestic violence.
The embassy later denied the claims, but by August Jumayev had been dismissed.According to turkmen.news, his wife and daughter sought political asylum in France.Finally, as already mentioned, former Turkmen Ambassador to the United States Meret Orazov accumulated real estate in America over a quarter-century that appears disproportionate to his official income.
Moreover, the law on diplomatic service предусматривает ротацию дипломатов каждые три года, чтобы they do not develop overly close ties in their host country, put down roots there or forget which country they serve.
Yet Orazov served in the United States for more than 25 years, and there have been no reports of his return home.In recent years, nearly everyone who has the opportunity has been leaving Turkmenistan.
People obtain tourist visas and remain abroad illegally, seek refugee status or secure residence permits, becoming part of new societies.Some even go to war, risking their lives in hopes of obtaining citizenship in another country.
This applies not only to those with limited prospects, but also to individuals with stable employment, including military personnel and diplomats.Even such “heavyweights” as Aksoltan Ataeva, Berdymurad Rejepov, Meret Orazov and Esen Aydogdyev — who for decades have told the world how good Turkmenistan is — have sought to build their lives and secure their children’s futures as far from Turkmenistan as possible.
They do so consciously, understanding that the future of the country they represent remains uncertain.