The Real Borat
lah The president of Turkmenistan, died yesterday.
Saparmurat Niyazov, was a mixture of Borat and Presidente Esposito in Woody Allen's Bananas. He was possibly the most eccentric dictator in the world.
The self-declared Turkmenbashi, or father of the Turkmen, Mr Niyazov renamed the month of January after himself and squandered vast amounts of money on vanity projects including the construction of a gold-leaf covered statue of himself that rotates to face the sun.
Facial hair - along with gold fillings - was high on the list of Mr Niyazov's arbitrary dislikes and consequently most of Turkmenistan's male population were meticulously clean shaven.
Mr Niyazov had not nominated a successor. According to Turkmen law, the president is succeeded by the head of the legislative body, the People's Assembly. Predictably, that post was held by Mr Niyazov himself.
Mr Niyazov's random set of dislikes included car radios, operas, ballets, circuses and orchestras. Some were banned others disappeared when Mr Niyazov made his views known.
Traditional folk music was encouraged but healthcare and education were scaled down outside Ashgabat - although about 90 per cent of the population live outside the capital, many in poverty.
He even stipulated what exactly it meant to be "old". Childhood lasted until 13, he decreed, adolescence until 25 and youth until 37. Old age, he insisted, did not begin until 85.
Eccentric edicts
* The president renamed the month of January after himself and April after his mother
* He banned hospitals and libraries from all areas of Turkmenistan apart from the capital, Ashgabat
* A planet of the Taurus constellation, a crater on the Moon and a mountain peak were named after him
* He banned ballet, opera and circus as indecent. He banned singers from performing to recorded music and newscasters from wearing make-up
* He banned gold teeth, beards and long hair for young people
* When foreign leaders met him, Niyazov often presented them with a horse
* Set up a Ministry of Justice to punish amoral behaviour
* A statue of Niyazov coated in gold leaf rotates to face the sun
* His face appears on bottles of several brands of vodka
* Issued a decree to give some food away free of charge: bread, salt and a ration of rice.
You could not make it up, but Woody Allen did.
(Source: The Independent, 22 Dec 2006)
Saparmurat Niyazov, was a mixture of Borat and Presidente Esposito in Woody Allen's Bananas. He was possibly the most eccentric dictator in the world.
The self-declared Turkmenbashi, or father of the Turkmen, Mr Niyazov renamed the month of January after himself and squandered vast amounts of money on vanity projects including the construction of a gold-leaf covered statue of himself that rotates to face the sun.
Facial hair - along with gold fillings - was high on the list of Mr Niyazov's arbitrary dislikes and consequently most of Turkmenistan's male population were meticulously clean shaven.
Mr Niyazov had not nominated a successor. According to Turkmen law, the president is succeeded by the head of the legislative body, the People's Assembly. Predictably, that post was held by Mr Niyazov himself.
Mr Niyazov's random set of dislikes included car radios, operas, ballets, circuses and orchestras. Some were banned others disappeared when Mr Niyazov made his views known.
Traditional folk music was encouraged but healthcare and education were scaled down outside Ashgabat - although about 90 per cent of the population live outside the capital, many in poverty.
He even stipulated what exactly it meant to be "old". Childhood lasted until 13, he decreed, adolescence until 25 and youth until 37. Old age, he insisted, did not begin until 85.
Eccentric edicts
* The president renamed the month of January after himself and April after his mother
* He banned hospitals and libraries from all areas of Turkmenistan apart from the capital, Ashgabat
* A planet of the Taurus constellation, a crater on the Moon and a mountain peak were named after him
* He banned ballet, opera and circus as indecent. He banned singers from performing to recorded music and newscasters from wearing make-up
* He banned gold teeth, beards and long hair for young people
* When foreign leaders met him, Niyazov often presented them with a horse
* Set up a Ministry of Justice to punish amoral behaviour
* A statue of Niyazov coated in gold leaf rotates to face the sun
* His face appears on bottles of several brands of vodka
* Issued a decree to give some food away free of charge: bread, salt and a ration of rice.
You could not make it up, but Woody Allen did.
(Source: The Independent, 22 Dec 2006)
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