Why has Emomali Rahmon not appeared in public since his visit to Germany?

After returning from Germany, where the President of Tajikistan participated in and spoke at a meeting of the heads of state of Central Asia and Germany, Rahmon has not appeared in public or before cameras for several days.

On September 30, the press service of the President of Tajikistan reported that “Emomali Rahmon returned from Berlin to his homeland after completing a working visit to the Federal Republic of Germany.”

However, according to several flight tracking services, on that day President Emomali Rahmon’s plane flew from Germany to Zurich (Switzerland), and from there to the international airport in the city of Turkmenbashi (Turkmenistan).

On October 4 of this year, the press service of the President of Tajikistan released a video of his congratulatory message on the Day of the State Language. It is unknown when and where the message was recorded.

On October 5, Emomali Rahmon celebrated his birthday. Several heads of state from Central Asia, Russia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey sent him congratulatory telegrams. The press service of the President of Tajikistan reported that the president had phone conversations with some leaders of countries.

It was also reported that on October 7, there was a phone conversation between Emomali Rahmon and Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which Rahmon congratulated Putin on his birthday.

On October 8 and 9, Tajikistan was visited by several high-ranking guests from Saudi Arabia, including the Executive Director of the Saudi Development Fund Sultan bin Abdurrahman Al-Marshad, who expressed readiness to strengthen economic, trade, and investment relations between Saudi Arabia and Tajikistan, including financing the construction of the Rogun Hydropower Plant. However, the high-ranking Saudi guests were met not by Emomali Rahmon, but by his son Rustam Emomali.

Earlier, sources from Azda TV reported that “after opposition activists pelted Emomali Rahmon’s car with eggs in Berlin, held protests, and shouted ‘Dictator – resign’, the health of the President of Tajikistan sharply deteriorated. For this reason, Emomali Rahmon went not to Dushanbe, but to Zurich (Switzerland) to undergo examination by his doctors.” Azda TV was unable to confirm this information from other official sources.

Emomali Rahmon has previously disappeared from public view for various reasons and has not appeared in public for extended periods. However, this time, following the protests in Berlin and the egg-throwing incident at his car, after which he appeared very upset in photographs, Rahmon has not appeared in public for several days, raising many questions in society.