Rejepbay Arazovich Arazov is a politician from

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

who served as the first civilian

Minister of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

from 2002 to 2003. He is also a former parliamentary legislator.

Biography

He was born in 1947 in a small village in the

Balkan Region Balkan Region ( tk, Balkan welaýaty, Балкан велаяты) is the westernmost of the five regions of Turkmenistan. Clockwise from north it borders Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan (north); two provinces of Turkmenistan (east), Iran (south), and ...

. He began his career in 1963 as a laboratory assistant at the cattle workshop of the oil and gas production department of Kumdagnef. Then he worked as an assistant driller of the Kuydzhuk exploration drilling department, first deputy chairman of the "Turkmenneft" State Enterprise. In 1971 he graduated from the

Turkmen Polytechnic Institute The Turkmen State Institute of Architecture and Construction (formerly named as Turkmen Polytechnic Institute) is one of the major universities in Turkmenistan. It is generally the leading institute in the country in engineering and energy. A number ...

, majoring in geology and exploration of oil and gas fields. From 1998 to 2000, he was Minister of the Oil and Gas Industry and Mineral Resources of Turkmenistan. After leaving this position, he became the Hakim of the Balkan Region and later served as the Chairman of the Assembly of Turkmenistan until early 2002. On 14 March 2002, he was appointed to the post of Minister of Defense of Turkmenistan. He concurrently served as a Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers. Over a year later, he was dismissed on 29 September 2003 for health reasons. Upon announcing the dismissal of Arazov, President Saparmurad Niyazov recommended that he be elected chairman of the National Trade Union Center of Turkmenistan. The election did not take place.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arazov, Rejepbay Living people Chairmen of the Assembly of Turkmenistan Ministers of Defence of Turkmenistan Turkmenistani generals 1947 births