Gyzylarbat

City in Balkan Province, Turkmenistan

Gyzylarbat (formerly Serdar and Kyzyl Arvat or Gyzylarbat and Farāva) is a city subordinate to a district in Turkmenistan, located north west of the capital, Ashgabat on the M37 highway to the Caspian Sea. The population of Gyzylarbat is 50,000 people, mainly Turkmen. The main language spoken in the region is Turkmen. It is near the northwest end of the line of oases on the north slope of the Kopet Dag that extends southeast to Ashgabat.

The 8th 9th century fortification in this place was called Kyzyl Rabat, "red fortress". In the 16th 17th centuries this name was corrupted in the vernacular to Kyzyl Arbat. In 1925, during Soviet rule, a district called Kizyl Arvat (Кызыл Арбат) was established.

On 29 December 1999 the town was renamed from Kizyl Arvat to Serdar.

When the Oghuz, under the command of Tughril and Chaghri, lost a battle against Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna (r. 998–1030), they submitted to the sultan, requesting him to allow them to cross the waters of the Oxus and settle somewhere between Nisa and Abivard. Sultan Mahmud acceded to their request and allotted them the grazing grounds in the steppe near Sarahs, Abivard and Farava. In July 1918, following his declaration of martial law in Ashgabat, Commissar V. Frolov, head of the Tashkent Cheka, came to Kyzyl Arvat to impose the authority of the Tashkent Soviet. However the railway workers had heard of his execution of strike leaders in Ashgabat and organised an armed response. He was shot with some of his followers and the rest were disarmed. This action opened the way to the formation of the Transcaspian Government. On 25 June 1957, the Soviet 58th Motor Rifle Division was established in Kyzyl Arvat, from the 58th Rifle Division which had arrived years earlier.

During the rule of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov (2007–2022), the city expanded to the north west: a house of culture, a carpet factory, a secondary school, a kindergarten, an art school, a shopping center, a sports complex with a stadium, a swimming pool and playgrounds for various sports were erected. In addition, the infrastructure of the city was updated. In particular, a new railway and bus station, a flyover bridge, a collector for absorbing mudflows, sewage treatment plants, and a number of other engineering facilities were built here. Private construction of the northern outskirts of the city is planned. Urban road infrastructure has been upgraded in recent years.

Gyzylarbat has a cool desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWk), with cool winters and very hot summers. Rainfall is generally light and erratic, and occurs mainly in the winter and autumn months.