Niyazov is way more than just a Soviet apparatchik. He calls himself Turkmenbashi, Father of the Turkmen, and has a giant rotating statue of himself in the middle of the capital.
Chris Doss The Russia Journal ------------------
Date: Sat, 29 Jun 2002 10:29:06 -0700 From: Michael Pugliese <debsian at pacbell.net> Subject: Re: US presence in Central Asia encouraging govt. overthrows?
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200107/10/eng20010710_74586.html
Turkmen President Fires Foreign Minister for Drunkenness
>...Niyazov has absolute control in Turkmenistan, where he is president
for life.
He is also the prime minister, army supreme commander and head of the country's only registered political party, the Democratic Party, which is the renamed version of the Soviet-era Communist Party. http://www.google.com/search?Saparmurat+Niyazov+Ahmed+Rashid M.P.
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