A very strange country - Turkmenistan

[Nemesis6]

Turkmenistan, a central asian republic has fascinated me this last week. Its leader, Saparmurat Niyazov, ?president for life? of Turkmenistan has recently died. Since it had broken away from the former USSR it had become Niyazov?s personal fiefdom. He had adopted the title ?Turkmenbashi? or father of Turkmens.

It seems the president was omnipresent ? casting his gaze from hoardings, his statue at the entrance of every government office. The building of personality cult has gone to very great heights. Very funny heights if you ask me. The first month of the year was named ?turkmenbashi? instead of January. A whole city was named after him. All the tv channels have to carry his profile in a corner.His face adorns many everyday objects, from banknotes to bottles of vodka. All watches and clocks made must bear his portrait printed on the dial-face. ?Ruhnama? is his magnum-opus which every child has to learn by-heart and everybody has to kiss before entering any mosque. Exams are held to test children?s understanding of the book annually. In the book he traces the history of the turkmens and also extols the virtues of water-melons, the national fruit of Turkmenistan in whose honour there are a few national holidays. President Niyazov had recently proclaimed that anyone who reads his book Ruhnama three times will "become more intelligent, will recognise the divine being and will go straight to heaven"The biggest carpet in the national museum is called ?the 21st century : the epoch of the great saparmurat niyazov.? In this Sunday?s The Hindu , the writer recalls an incident when she asked the name of a meteorite in a museum and the helpless guide replied ?turkmenbashi.? She doesn?t say whether he was right, but chances are he was.

Now that the fellow is gone there seems to be still no hope for the people over there. The first election in Turkmenistan has taken place yesterday. There are 6 candidates for presidency. All belong to the same party. Which is the only political party in Turkmenistan. And is most appropriately called the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan. Guess what the youngsters got for voting on the day? A copy of ?Ruhnama? of course!

Other interesting facts: The government is now instituting a ban on casual clothes for women in schools - They have to wear "National" clothes: Traditional Turkish clothes. And some background information on Ruhnama(Persian for "Book of the Soul) - Niyazov proclaimed that he had interceded with Allah to make sure that anyone who reads this book 5 times will go to Heaven.

A very strange country, with a very strange person in charge. Makes it all the more interesting to me.

 

[Jintor]

For a minute there I thought you were talking about Israfghyianonanaq.

 

[French Ninja]

Rofl!
That guy had ego issues.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Sounds North Koreanish.

 

[Nemesis6]

Funny that you mention this - Turkmenistan is often accused of being worse than North Korea as far as the whole personality cult goes. I found this page about the "10 most censored countries" - Turkmenistan is #3. http://www.cpj.org/censored/index.html

How censorship works: Niyazov has isolated the country from the rest of the world and created a cult of personality declaring himself “Turkmenbashi,” father of the Turkmen. The state owns all domestic media and Niyazov’s administration controls them by appointing editors and censoring content. Niyazov personally approves the front-page content of the major dailies, which always include a prominent picture of him. In 2005, the state closed all libraries except for one that houses the president’s books, and banned the importation of foreign publications. The state media heap fulsome praise on Niyazov as they ignore important stories on AIDS, prostitution, unemployment, poverty, crime, and drugs. A handful of local and foreign correspondents work for foreign—primarily Russian—news agencies, but their freedom to report is minimal.

Lowlight: State television displays a constant, golden profile of Niyazov at the bottom of the screen. Newscasters begin each broadcast with a pledge that their tongues will shrivel if their reports ever slander the country, the flag, or the president.

I guess this picture does say a lot - http://www.cpj.org/censored/Niyazov.banner.jpg