List of Famous people born in Turkmenistan

Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow is a Turkmen politician who has been serving as the president of Turkmenistan since February 2007. A dentist by profession, Berdimuhamedow served in the government under President Saparmurat Niyazov as Minister of Health beginning in 1997 and as Vice-President beginning in 2001. He became Acting President following Niyazov's death on 21 December 2006 and subsequently won the February 2007 presidential election. He faced no meaningful opposition in the vote and won by an overwhelming margin (89.23%). In the February 2012 presidential election, he was re-elected with 97% of the vote. In the February 2017 presidential election, he was re-elected to a third term with 97.69% of the votes.

Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov also known as Türkmenbaşy / Түркменбашы or Beýik Türkmenbaşy / Бейик Түркменбашы was a Turkmen politician who served as the leader of Turkmenistan from 1985 until his death in 2006. He was First Secretary of the Turkmen Communist Party from 1985 until 1991 and supported the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt. He continued to rule Turkmenistan for 15 years after independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Yelena Georgievna Bonner was a human rights activist in the former Soviet Union and wife of the physicist Andrei Sakharov. During her decades as a dissident, Bonner was noted for her characteristic blunt honesty and courage.

Eduard Arkadyevich Asadov was a Russian poet and writer of Armenian origin.

Daniyar Ismayilov is a Turkmen weightlifter currently competing for Turkey. He competed for Turkmenistan at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He competed for Turkey at 2016 Olympics and won a silver medal

Oleg Dmitriyevich Kononenko is a Turkmen Russian cosmonaut. He has flown to the International Space Station four times, as a flight engineer for Expedition 17 aboard Soyuz TMA-12, as a flight engineer on Expedition 30 and commander of Expedition 31 aboard Soyuz TMA-03M, as a flight engineer on Expedition 44 and Expedition 45 aboard Soyuz TMA-17M, and as commander of Expedition 58 and Expedition 59 aboard Soyuz MS-11. Kononenko accumulated over 736 days in orbit during his four long duration flights to ISS.

Yuri Aleksandrovich Kovshov is a former Ukrainian Soviet equestrian and Olympic champion. He was born in Kushka, Turkmen SSR, and was affiliated with VDFSO Kiev. He won a gold medal in team dressage at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and received a silver medal in individual dressage.

Vadim Vladimirovich Potomsky, is a Turkmen-Russian statesman, politician, and economist who is currently the Deputy Plenipotentiary Representative in the Northwestern Federal District since 7 December 2018. He had also served as the Deputy Plenipotentiary Representative in the Central Federal District from October 2017 to December 2018.

Mekan Nasyrov is a Turkmenistan footballer who has formerly plays for Persik Kediri, Barito Putera, and Semen Padang.

Mar Ishodad of Merv was a bishop of Hdatta and prominent theologian of the Church of the East, best known for his Commentaries on the Old and New Testaments.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak was born during the reign of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik. ‘Abdullah ibn Mubarak was an early, pious Muslim known for his memory and zeal for knowledge, collected hadīth (muhaddith), and was remembered for his asceticism. He earned the title Amir al-Mu'minin fi al-Hadith. His father, named Mubarak, was from Khurasan and became a client (mawālī) of an Arab trader from the tribe of Banī Hanẓala in the city of Hamadhān, and his mother was said to have been from Khwārizm. Mubarak later married Hind, the trader's daughter. It is said that ‘Abdullah ibn Mubarak left his hometown of Merv, and while living in Hamadhān, went on to visit and speak often in Baghdād. Imam Ahmad said about Abdullah ibn Mubarak that there was no one more eager to travel for seeking knowledge than him. His teachers included Sufyān al-Thawrī and Abū Hanīfa. He wrote Kitāb al-Jihād, a collection of hadīth and sayings of the early Muslims on war, and Kitāb al-Zuhd wa al-Rāqa’iq, a book on asceticism. He was also known for defending Islamic borders on the frontiers of Tarsus and al-Massisah, and later died at Hīt, near the Euphrates, in the year 797 CE. during the reign of Harun al-Rashid

Hashim, better known as al-Muqanna‘ was leader of an anti Islamic revolt who claimed to be a prophet, and founded a religion which was a mixture of Zoroastrianism and Islam. He was a chemist, and one of his experiments caused an explosion in which a part of his face was burnt. For the rest of his life he used a veil and thus was known as "al-Muqanna‘". Said Nafisi and Arian-Pour have written about him in the "Khorrām-Dīnān" armies.