Saparmurat Niyazov
Saparmurat Atajevich Niyazov Turkmenbashi (Turkmen Saparmyrat Nyıazow Türkmenbaşy) (born February 19, 1940) has been the most powerful figure in Turkmenistan since 1985.
He was orphaned at an early age, his father having died fighting the Germans in World War II, and the rest of his family dying in the massive earthquake which levelled Ashgabat in 1948. He was raised in a Soviet orphanage, which could explain his fixation with his family. He joined the Communist Party and rose through the ranks, eventually becoming head of the Communist Party of the Turkmen SSR (later known as the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan). After the fall of the Soviet Union, he retained control of the country when it proclaimed independence in 1991, and became its first president.
On October 22, 1993, he styled himself Turkmenbashi, which means "Leader of all Turkmen". On December 29, 1999, he was proclaimed President for Life by the country's rubber-stamp legislature.
Niyazov is an authoritarian leader and is known for his massive cult of personality. Believing Turkmenistan to be a nation devoid of a national identity, he has attempted to rebuild the country in his own image. He renamed a town on the Caspian Sea Turkmenbashi after himself, in addition to renaming several schools, airports and even a meteorite after himself and his immediate family. Large portraits of the President hang all over the country, especially on major public buildings and avenues, and statues of himself and his mother are scattered all over Turkmenistan. The statues include one in the middle of the Kara Kum desert, and a gold-plated statue atop Ashgabat's largest buiding, the Neutrality Arch, that rotates to face the sun. Niyazov has commissioned a massive palace in Ashgabat commemorating his rule.
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, which serves as the "spiritual guidance of the nation" and the basis of the nation's arts and literature. Niyazov's other efforts to transform Turkmen culture include renaming the days and months after national heroes and symbols, defining the stages of life, and introducing a Turkmen alphabet to replace Cyrillic. He has also banned long hair, beards, and gold teeth.
After an alleged assassination attempt against him on November 25, 2002, the Turkmen authorities proceeded to massive arrests 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.
In early 2004 Turkmen officials removed many images of Niyazov from public display, replacing them with politically themed posters. There is speculation that he is toning down his personality cult to improve his image with foreign governments.