Saparmurad Atajevich Niyazov (Turkmen Saparmyrat Nyyazow) (born February 19, 1940) is the President of Turkmenistan.
He was orphaned at an early age, his father having died fighting the Germans in World War 2, 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 Turkmen S.S.R. After the fall of the Soviet Union, he retained control of the country.
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 well known for his massive cult of personality. 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, including one in the middle of the Kara Kum desert. Niyazov has also commissioned a massive palace in Ashgabat commemorating his rule. His effigy is on Turkmen television and Ashgabat's largest building, the Neutrality Arch, boasts a gigantic 12-meter-high gold plated statue of himself which revolves once per day and follows the sun. The education system exists solely to indoctrinate young Turkmen to love Niyazov, with Niyazov's works and speeches being their textbooks.
He has attempted to legitimize his authority by establishing his autobiography-cum-Turkmen historical account, the Ruhnama, as the "spiritual guidance of the nation", serving as the basis of the nation's education system, arts and literature. It is required reading in all schools and colleges, and is sold in every bookstore.
Niyazov has recently redefined youth and old age, introduced a unique Turkmen alphabet to replace Cyrillic, and renamed days of the week and months of the year after himself, his mother, his book, and other perceived heroes of Turkmenistan.
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.
The year 2003 was proclaimed "Year of the Turkmen Heroine Gorbansoltan-edzhe, the Mother of the First and Eternal President of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Turkmenbashy".
Official webpage: http://www.turkmenbashi.org/External link
