jpatokal
18-05-06, 10:20 AM
Fans of the Kim Dynasty and Koryo Tours now have a chance to visit another whacked-out Stalinist utopia:
http://www.koryotours.com/turkmenistan/index.html
Some fun Turkmenbashi facts from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saparmurat_Niyazov):
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. ...
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 and Western influences. He has shut down opera and ballet companies, claiming them to be "unnecessary". Western-style universities and conservatories have been closed. Libraries have all been closed. Recorded music has been banned. 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.
http://www.koryotours.com/turkmenistan/index.html
Some fun Turkmenbashi facts from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saparmurat_Niyazov):
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. ...
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 and Western influences. He has shut down opera and ballet companies, claiming them to be "unnecessary". Western-style universities and conservatories have been closed. Libraries have all been closed. Recorded music has been banned. 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.