PARIS, May 6, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - 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.

The trip to Paris is a highly unusual visit abroad by Berdymukhamedov, who is the subject of a cult of personality at home and has penned numerous books including, most recently, one honouring his own achievements.

France and the EU are eyeing gas reserves in the region as Europe moves to end its reliance on Russian gas in the wake of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Turkmenistan, meanwhile, is seeking to shift more of its exports westwards and reduce its dependence on China as its main export partner.

The landlocked state has the fourth-largest gas reserves in the world but is vulnerable to fluctuations in Beijing's economy.

How to deliver any gas to Europe from Turkmenistan, which has borders with Iran and Afghanistan, remains a logistical issue.

- 'Open a new page' -

Berdymukhamedov hopes his visit will "give a powerful impetus to the development of bilateral cooperation" and "open a new page in the history of relations" between Ashgabat and Paris, according to the official Turkmenistan news agency.

Several agreements were signed at the Elysee but they did not mention cooperation on energy.

France's Thales Alenia Space Group signed a framework agreement for the supply of a second telecommunications satellite to the former Soviet republic.

The two governments also agreed to cooperate in the field of sustainable urban development while concluding a roadmap for educational and academic cooperation and the extension of a joint archaeological mission in Turkmenistan.

Berdymukhamedov, who emphasises neutrality as the cornerstone of Turkmenistan's foreign policy, last visited France in 2010, when Nicolas Sarkozy was president. He also met with German chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin in 2016.

Turkmenistan has no legal independent media and is one of the most closed-off states in the world, an authoritarian system that some rights groups have compared to North Korea.

Berdymukhamedov has also gained notoriety for unusual antics that are glorified at home on state TV that have included crooning songs, Rambo-style performances on the shooting range and zooming around racetracks in a sports car.

While he ceded the presidency to his son in 2022, Berdymukhamedov governs de facto alongside Serdar as chair of the country's supreme constitutional authority.

Press freedom monitor Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranks Turkmenistan 174 out of 180 countries on its press freedom index, saying that news coverage there "amounts only to praise for the regime". Officially, the nation recorded not a single case of Covid-19.