French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday hosted the de facto leader of Turkmenistan for rare talks at the Elysee Palace, with Paris showing interest in the vast gas reserves of the reclusive Central Asian state.
Known in Turkmenistan as "Arkadag" ("protector") and president since 2006, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov remains the number one in the ex-Soviet Caspian nation despite handing over the presidency to his son Serdar in 2022.
