Information AboutSaparmurat Niyazov |
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| 1940 births | |
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| deaths by myocardial infarction | |
| government of turkmenistan | |
| presidents of turkmenistan | |
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Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov ( Turkmen '''Saparmyrat Ataýewiç Nyýazow''') (born February 19 , 1940 ) has been the most powerful figure in Turkmenistan since 1985 . He is referred to as ''Serdar Saparmurat Turkmenbashi the Great'', or just ''Turkmenbashi''. Criticized by Western media as one of the world's most authoritarian Dictator s, he also has a reputation of imposing his personal Eccentric ities upon the country, although in Turkmenistan, many do regard him as the "Great Leader of the Turkmens" (the meaning of his title). BACKGROUND Orphaned at an early age, Niyazov's father died fighting the Germans in World War II and the rest of his family was killed in the massive earthquake that leveled Ashgabat in 1948 . He was then raised in a Soviet orphanage before being taken into the home of a distant relative. In 1962 Niyazov joined the Communist Party where he quickly rose through the ranks, becoming head of the Communist Party Of The Turkmen SSR (later known as the Democratic Party Of Turkmenistan ) in 1985 after the previous leader, Muhammad Gapusov , was removed by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev due to a cotton-related corruption scandal. Niyazov, as leader of the Turkmen SSR , supported the Coup against Mikhail Gorbachev in 1991 and retained control of the country after the fall of the Soviet Union . He became Turkmenistan's first and only " President ." On October 22 , 1993 , he styled himself ''Turkmenbashi'' (Türkmenbaşy or Туркменбаши), meaning "Leader of all Ethnic Turkmens ", in the style of Kemal Atatürk , "Father of the Turks ." On December 29 , 1999 , he was proclaimed President For Life by the country's Rubber-stamp legislature. PERSONALITY CULT Niyazov is an Authoritarian leader and is well known in Western countries for a Personality Cult . Believing Turkmenistan to be a nation devoid of a national identity, he has attempted to rebuild the country to his own vision. He renamed the town of Krasnovodsk , on the Caspian Sea , Turkmenbashi after himself, in addition to renaming several schools, airports and even a Meteorite after himself and his immediate family. Niyazov's face appears on all Manat Banknotes and large portraits of the president hang all over the country, especially on major public buildings and avenues. Statues of himself and his mother are scattered all over Turkmenistan , including one in the middle of the Kara Kum desert as well as a gold-plated statue atop Ashgabat's largest building, the Neutrality Arch , that rotates so it will always face into the sun and shine light onto the capital city. Niyazov has commissioned a massive palace in Ashgabat commemorating his rule. He has been given the hero of Turkmenistan award five times. "I'm personally against seeing my pictures and statues in the streets - but it's what the people want," Niyazov inaccurately said. The education system Indoctrinates young Turkmen to love Niyazov, with his works and speeches making up most of their textbooks' content. The primary text is a national epic written by Niyazov, the '' Ruhnama '' or ''Book of the Soul.'' This book, a mixture of revisionist history and moral guidelines, is intended as the "spiritual guidance of the nation" and the basis of the nation's arts and literature. With Soviet -era textbooks banned without being replaced by new publications, libraries are left with little more than Niyazov's works. In 2004, the dictator ordered the closure of all rural libraries on the grounds that he thought that village Turkmen do not read. In Niyazov's home village of Kipchak , a complex has been built to the memory of his mother, including a mosque (est. at $100 million) conceived as a symbol of the rebirth of the Turkmen people. The walls of this edifice display precepts from the ''Ruhnama'' along with Qur'an Suras . DOMESTIC POLICIES Culture In addition to placing himself at the center of Turkmen culture, Niyazov has sought to promote the culture to the world and cleanse it of Russian influences. He introduced a new Turkmen Alphabet based on the Latin Alphabet to replace Cyrillic and Renamed The Days And Months after national heroes and symbols described in the ''Ruhnama''. According to this new calendar, January is called "Turkmenbashi." Niyazov has proposed to build new Wonders Of The World in Turkmenistan; these include an Ice Palace in August 2004 and a large zoo in September 2005 . Neither of these projects has gone forward. Security After an alleged assassination attempt against him on November 25 , 2002 , the Turkmen authorities proceeded to arrest massive numbers of suspected conspirators and members of their families. Some critics claim that the attempt was staged in order to crack down on mounting political opposition from inside the country and abroad. The summer of 2004 saw a leaflet campaign in the capital, Ashgabat , calling for the Overthrow and Trial of Niyazov. The authorities were unable to stop the campaign and the President responded by firing his Interior Minister and director of the police academy on national television. He accused the minister of being Incompetent and declared "I cannot say that you had any great merits or did much to combat crime." Public health In 2004 Niyazov dismissed 15,000 medical workers, replacing them with army conscripts. He followed up this action on 1 March 2005 by ordering the closure of all hospitals outside of Ashgabat. He pronounced on February 28, 2005: "Why should we waste good medical specialists on the villages when they should be working in the capital?" Niyazov is reported to be seriously ill and requires assistance to walk. FOREIGN POLICY Niyazov is the main proponent of Turkmenistan's constitutional Neutrality . Under this policy, Turkmenistan does not participate in any military alliance and does not contribute to United Nations monitoring forces. In late 2004, Niyazov met with former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien to discuss an oil contract in Turkmenistan for a Canadian corporation. In March 2005 , news of this meeting caused an uproar amongst opposition circles in Canada, who claimed the affair could damage Chrétien's legacy. In 2005, Niyazov announced that his country would downgrade its links with the Commonwealth Of Independent States , a loose alliance of Post-Soviet States ; he furthermore promised free and fair elections by 2010 in a move that surprised many Western observers. In 2006, the European Commission and the international trade committee of the European Parliament voted to grant Turkmenistan "most favored nation" trading status with the European Union , widely seen as motivated by interest in natural gas, after Niyazov announced he would enter a "human rights dialogue" with the EU. {Link without Title} PRESIDENTIAL DECREES As President-for-Life of Turkmenistan, he has issued many unconventional Decree s, such as:
STAGES OF LIFE ACCORDING TO NIYAZOV
Oguzkhan , who is considered to be the founder of the Turkmen nation, lived until the age of 109. MONUMENTS TO NIYAZOV
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