Loony Dictators #1 Saparmurat Niyazov: Building an Ice Palace in a desert.

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When we think of the word dictator, for most of us the first picture that comes in our mind is of the Kim dynast of North Korea. The antics of the Kim’s are known to all but they’re not any different from other dictators across the globe who have reigned in the past. Actually one can see a pattern in the way the go about their job. In this series Loony Dictators we will shed light on different dictators and their bizarre decrees.

In the first chapter of this series we are going to talk about, Saparmurat Niyazov the dictator from the gas and oil rich Turkmenistan. Niyazov seized power after the breakup of the Soviet Union and went to declare himself the President for Life.

This narcissistic leader might not have been the media’s bunny in his days but his acts of self gratification could put any dictator to shame. He single handedly controlled the gas and oil reserves of Turkmenistan, stashing all of the income abroad and subject the country’s population to dire poverty.

What’s in the name?

Of his many weird hobbies one was to rename things. Niyazov adopted a new name for himself, Turkmenbashi, meaning the Leader of Turkmen. Following this he renamed a number places to Turkmenbashi, the list includes:

• The airport in the capital city of Asgabat.
• The port city of Krasnovodsk.
• Streets and schools across the country .
• A meteorite that landed in Turkmenistan in 1998.

If that looks like the height of narcissism to you, then just wait, he also renamed months of the year and days of the week.

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But this final one takes the renaming saga to another level, Niyazov renamed bread to the name of his mother. Yes, poor Turkmen had to eat Niyazov’s mother everyday.

Niyazov the Prophet

Though he was illiterate, Niyazov authored the book Ruhnama, which he declared to be the spiritual guide for the people of Turkmenistan. He ordered the Mosques to give this book equal relevance as the Quran or be demolished. Ruhnama was taught rigorously in schools and kids pledged allegiance to it every morning. It was alleged that one could not get a driving licence in Turkmenistan if they did not know the Ruhnama word by word.

Niyazov even told his people that he had a pact with Allah that anybody who read his book three times would automatically go to heaven.

His desire for the spiritual upliftment of other went beyond humans, so in 2005, he launched a copy of it into space for aliens to read.

A fan of ban

Like most dictators, Niyazov to seemed to love banning things. The list of things he banned is quite long and equally bizarre. The things that were banned in Turkmenistan were:

• Wearing makeup on TV

• Gold Teeth

• Beard or long hair

• Lip synching

• Ballet and Opera

• Listening to car radios

• Playing recorded music 

• Having more than one pet.

Dictators Disney Land

It started to appear as if  capital city of Asgabat was built around the statues of Niyazov. The eccentric dictator had a gold statue of himself put on top of a building in the capital, Ashgabat. The statue revolves so it always faces the sun.

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And he built a 50-foot statue of his book in the middle of the capital of Turkmenistan.At 8pm every night, this statue opens up and a video recording plays a passage from the book.

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He also built a $60 Million mosque in a country while majority of the 4.5 million of 5 million population lived in poverty.

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But it was this act of his foolish arrogance that put him on top of the list of loony dictators. In 2004, he ordered that for a giant ice palace to be built in the middle of the desert, the Karakum – the hottest location in central Asia. It would include a zoo with penguins.

In 2006 Niyazov died of a heart attack, handing over his empire to a dentist. The people of Turkmenistan would have thought their live would change for better, but the new President has carried Niyazov’s legacy in almost every aspect and so well that he could possibly make it to the list of loony dictators.