DEATH OF NIYAZOV...TURKMENI DICTATOR

This morning the President of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Niyazov, died. Although the history and even the existence of this country is not well known, he was one of the last Stalinist style dictators.



From "Le Temps", Swiss-Romande newspaper, 21/12/2006


Le puissant président turkmène est décédé
Saparmourat Niazov, l'homme fort du Turkménistan depuis 21 ans, est décédé jeudi matin, ont annoncé les médias d'Etat de l'ex-république soviétique d'Asie centrale.
Jeudi 21 décembre 2006 08:01Agences

Le président du Turkménistan Saparmourat Niazov est décédé tôt jeudi à l'âge de 66 ans, ont annoncé les médias d'Etat. Saparmourat Niazov dirigeait d'une main de fer cette ex-république soviétique d'Asie centrale depuis 21 ans.«Sous le choc»"Ce malheur est arrivé tôt ce matin. Nous sommes tous sous le choc", avait indiqué auparavant un haut responsable du gouvernement sous couvert de l'anonymat. "Aujourd'hui, de façon brutale, le président turkmène est mort", a ajouté un autre responsable gouvernemental. Des "réunions spéciales" étaient en cours au sein du gouvernement, selon plusieurs ministères.Ex-premier secrétaire du Parti communiste turkmène au temps de l'URSS, M. Niazov, qui se faisait appeler Turkmenbachi ("Leader de tous les turkmènes"), avait été nommé à la tête du Turkménistan en 1985 alors que cette république faisait encore partie de l'URSS. La population s'était prononcée en 1991 à une majorité très nette en faveur de l'indépendance.Président à vie depuis 1999, il avait crée autour de lui et de certains membres de sa famille un culte délirant de la personnalité, fondement de son régime, l'un des plus répressifs et fermés au monde.Craintes d'instabilitéToute forme d'opposition y est sévèrement réprimée. Turkmenbachi contrôlait toutes les arcanes du pouvoir, occupant aussi bien la présidence que les postes de chef de gouvernement et de dirigeant du seul parti politique autorisé.Les observateurs craignent qu'en l'absence d'un successeur désigné, ceux qui étaient pressentis ayant été limogés ou emprisonnés, le Turkménistan ne bascule dans l'instabilité d'autant que M. Niazov, en établissant son régime totalitaire, a réduit à néant l'influence traditionnelle des clans turkmènes.Régulièrement, des rumeurs faisant état de malaise cardiaque ou de crise de diabète couraient à son propos. En octobre, il avait lui-même indiqué prendre des médicaments trois fois par jour pour une "maladie au coeur" et il avait subi en 1997 un pontage coronarien.


From " The Guardian", 21/12/2006

'Father of the Turkmen' dies aged 66
Tom Parfitt in MoscowThursday December 21, 2006

Sapurmurat Niyazov, the hardline president of Turkmenistan, died from a heart attack early today, bringing the curtain down on one of the world's most eccentric personality cults.
Niyazov, 66, had turned his former Soviet central Asian desert state into an object of international ridicule through a series of bizarre decrees that left Turkmens living in an isolated world where fact and fantasy were blurred.
State television showed musicians sawing on violins, and a week of mourning was announced. New Year celebrations were cancelled.
The government urged the nation to be "be calm and brave, and unite further in order to overcome with dignity the severe ordeal which has befallen it and continue honourably the deeds of the national leader".
The president was said to have died at 1.10am from a cardiac arrest. He had announced publicly last month that he was suffering from heart disease.
Known as Turkmenbashi, or Father of all Turkmens, Niyazov was renowned for such peculiar acts as ordering citizens to get gold teeth extracted, outlawing opera and banning men from listening to car radios.
During a 21-year rule he turned his country into a hymn of praise to himself: kindergartens, towns, factories and a month of the year (January) were named Turkmenbashi. He erected a revolving gold statue of himself in the capital, Ashgabat, and giant billboards of the leader hung all over the country.
He often feigned embarrassment at the adulation. "I'm personally against seeing my pictures and statues in the streets - but it's what the people want," he once said.
But the pressure to worship the leader was relentless. Children in the gas-rich state were forced to learn his book of poetry, the Ruhnama, at school, and a copy of the book was sent into space for good measure.
Official propaganda had it that Turkmenbashi brought his people into a new "golden age", but in reality they were held in almost total isolation and political dissent was crushed.
Niyazov used an alleged assassination attempt in 2002 - thought by many critics to be fabricated - as an excuse to crack down on opponents, who were imprisoned and interned.
He came to power in 1985 as first secretary of the Turkmen Communist party. After the Soviet collapse, six years later, he became president and in 1999 was made president for life.
The authoritarian leader has no obvious successor because he ensured that no one in his close circle could establish a power base.
According to Turkmen law, the president is succeeded by the head of the lawmaking body, the people's assembly. But that post was held by Niyazov himself.
The deputy prime minister, Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, was named head of the commission handling the funeral, a position analysts said indicated he may be the successor.
Niyazov's funeral is set to take place on Saturday in Ashgabat.

This event can be the chance to know something more of that country. I therefore add some interesting links here:


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/country_profiles/1298497.stm: history and analysis of the country by the BBC.

http://www.chaihana.com/PDF/2hours.pdf: nice article by an employee of USAID who lived and worked there for 2-3 years.

http://www.nwlink.com/~douglasm/turkmenistan/: pictures of a trip in Turkmenistan.

http://ec.europa.eu/comm/external_relations/turkmenistan/intro/index.htm: analysis of the country by the EU, short story and diplomatic and commercial relations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkmenistan: unmissable, the voice Turkmenistan on Wikipedia!