AVAZA, Turkmenistan: The US pop star Jennifer Lopez has added to her long history of performing for unsavoury characters with a birthday concert for the president of Turkmenistan — a man accused of committing widespread human rights abuses while ruling over the hermit nation.
Human rights activists criticised the star, also known as JLo, for singing at the flashy southern resort of Avaza on Saturday night in honour of Gurbanguly Berdymukhaedov’s 56th birthday. A select group of government officials, diplomats and executives were in attendance.
With a shout of “Turkmenistan!”, Lopez took to the stage to sing and dance her way through her biggest hits. At the end, she changed from a skimpy white dress into a long, traditional Turkmen outfit to sing Happy Birthday, Mr President to Berdymukhamedov.
“It was our pleasure,” Lopez said from the stage. “And we wish you the very happiest birthday.”
Berdymukhamedov presides over a personality cult in the oil and gas rich central Asian nation and accepts no dissent. Human Rights Watch calls Turkmenistan “one of the world’s most repressive countries”.
Lopez is one of the highest-profile western pop stars to play private concerts around the former Soviet Union in exchange for huge fees though she is believed to be the first major star to visit and perform in Turkmenistan, a hermit nation whose people live in poverty and are allowed little contact with the outside world.
Guardian News
