Guardian
10-11-2004, 10:19 AM
He renamed January after himself and April after his mother. He's building an ice palace in the desert, and promised all citizens of Turkmenistan a cow with calf... Tom Templeton on the strange but sinister cult of Saparmurat Niyazov
On 27 October the people of Turkmenistan - a gas-rich, desert-dominated central Asian country - will be celebrating 13 years of independence from the former Soviet Union. There will be feasts and military parades in the gleaming capital, Ashgabat. But, like the Soviet-era buildings behind the marble facades, the fabric of society is crumbling under the rule of the man they will be praising: Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenbashi the Great, Turkmenistan's 'President for Life'.
Turkmenistan, which is twice the size of the UK yet has a population of just 5m, has since seceding from the Soviet Union in 1991, 'acquired one of the worst totalitarian systems in the world', according to the European parliament. And central to this system is a cult of personality to match Mao Tse-Tung, Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong Il. Turkmenistan's President Niyazov is a man, after all, who has renamed the month of January - after himself.
In the last decade, thousands of statues of Niyazov have been erected across the country. The grandest is 12 metres high and coated in gold leaf; it stands on top of a 75-metre tall monument in the centre of Ashgabat and rotates to face the sun. Airports, regions, meteorites, cities and schools have been renamed after the president and his parents. Meetings in his office are televised and broadcast weekly on the three state TV channels.
As well as renaming January, Niyazov has renamed April after his mother, May after his father and September after his 'divinely inspired' masterwork, the Rukhnama. This 'book of the soul' dominates the life of his subjects. Written between 1997 and 2001, it fills bookstores across the country and has been made the cornerstone of an otherwise ravaged educational establishment. 'On a par with the Bible and the Koran, it is to be used as a Spiritual Guide,' writes Niyazov in the introduction, 'to remove the complexities and anguishes from day to day living.' There are regular pageants staged in sports stadiums depicting scenes from this opus, centring on the moral purity of his mother and father. And every morning at factories and schools the citizens sing the national anthem, which refers to Turkmenistan as 'The great creation of Turkmenbashi'.
More in Observer (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,11913,1323246,00.html)
I think the article is based on the fact. How is your reactoion towards this kind of issues, how the natiuon can go through this situation? What will be the results?
Hmmm..it's weird:(
Joe
On 27 October the people of Turkmenistan - a gas-rich, desert-dominated central Asian country - will be celebrating 13 years of independence from the former Soviet Union. There will be feasts and military parades in the gleaming capital, Ashgabat. But, like the Soviet-era buildings behind the marble facades, the fabric of society is crumbling under the rule of the man they will be praising: Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenbashi the Great, Turkmenistan's 'President for Life'.
Turkmenistan, which is twice the size of the UK yet has a population of just 5m, has since seceding from the Soviet Union in 1991, 'acquired one of the worst totalitarian systems in the world', according to the European parliament. And central to this system is a cult of personality to match Mao Tse-Tung, Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong Il. Turkmenistan's President Niyazov is a man, after all, who has renamed the month of January - after himself.
In the last decade, thousands of statues of Niyazov have been erected across the country. The grandest is 12 metres high and coated in gold leaf; it stands on top of a 75-metre tall monument in the centre of Ashgabat and rotates to face the sun. Airports, regions, meteorites, cities and schools have been renamed after the president and his parents. Meetings in his office are televised and broadcast weekly on the three state TV channels.
As well as renaming January, Niyazov has renamed April after his mother, May after his father and September after his 'divinely inspired' masterwork, the Rukhnama. This 'book of the soul' dominates the life of his subjects. Written between 1997 and 2001, it fills bookstores across the country and has been made the cornerstone of an otherwise ravaged educational establishment. 'On a par with the Bible and the Koran, it is to be used as a Spiritual Guide,' writes Niyazov in the introduction, 'to remove the complexities and anguishes from day to day living.' There are regular pageants staged in sports stadiums depicting scenes from this opus, centring on the moral purity of his mother and father. And every morning at factories and schools the citizens sing the national anthem, which refers to Turkmenistan as 'The great creation of Turkmenbashi'.
More in Observer (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,11913,1323246,00.html)
I think the article is based on the fact. How is your reactoion towards this kind of issues, how the natiuon can go through this situation? What will be the results?
Hmmm..it's weird:(
Joe