History UsefulNotes / Turkmenistan

However, things got worse from there. The first post-Soviet president, Saparmyrat Nyýazow, installed a [[{{Egopolis}} cult of personality]] rivaled only by UsefulNotes/NorthKorea or the Stalinist USSR. He renamed all months and days in the calendar [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas (including one named after his mother)]], built a gigantic golden statue of himself in Ashgabat, tried to build an enormous indoor ice skating rink near the capital (so people living in this ''desert'' country could learn to skate), banned things like the opera, circuses, video games [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and even gold tooth fillings and news presenters using makeup]] (because he was "having trouble telling them apart"), gave himself the title "Türkmenbaşy" (Leader of the Turkmens), renamed Krasnovodsk to [[{{Egopolis}} that title]], [[KickTheDog shut down all hospitals outside Ashgabat, arguing that sick Turkmens could "come to the capital" for treatment]], wrote the ''Ruhnama'', a book which was required to be memorized perfectly to hold government positions, apply for higher education, or even to ''own a driver's license'' and passed off as a text mosques were required by law (on penalty of having the mosques shut down at ''best'') to treat on the same level as the Quran - all despite Nyýazow being "somewhat illiterate", and eventually declared himself president-for-life.

However, things got worse from there. The first post-Soviet president, Saparmurat Niyazov, installed a [[{{Egopolis}} cult of personality]] rivaled only by UsefulNotes/NorthKorea or the Stalinist USSR. He renamed all months and days in the calendar [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas (including one named after his mother)]], built a gigantic golden statue of himself in Ashgabat, tried to build an enormous indoor ice skating rink near the capital (so people living in this ''desert'' country could learn to skate), banned things like the opera, circuses, video games [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and even gold tooth fillings and news presenters using makeup]] (because he was "having trouble telling them apart"), gave himself the title "Türkmenbaşy" (Leader of the Turkmens), renamed Krasnovodsk to [[{{Egopolis}} that title]], [[KickTheDog shut down all hospitals outside Ashgabat, arguing that sick Turkmens could "come to the capital" for treatment]], wrote the ''Ruhnama'', a book which was required to be memorized perfectly to hold government positions, apply for higher education, or even to ''own a driver's license'' and passed off as a text mosques were required by law (on penalty of having the mosques shut down at ''best'') to treat on the same level as the Quran - all despite Niyazov being "somewhat illiterate", and eventually declared himself president-for-life.

Fortunately, [[OnlyServesForLife that "for-life" part didn't last long]]. Niyazov died of a heart attack on 21 December 2006, and was succeeded by [[OverlyLongName Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow]] in an election two months later. Ironically, Berdimuhamedow previously served as a dentist whose pension was taken away by Niyazov before he died; Berdimuhamedow returned the favor by restoring pensions to 100,000 affected doctors. To this day, Turkmenistan still qualifies as a PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny, being a single-party state (and that one party used to be the Communist Party), but Berdimuhamedow has taken steps to [[MeetTheNewBoss dismantle Niyazov's cult of personality in favor of his own]].

Fortunately, that "for-life" part didn't last long. Niyazov died of a heart attack on 21 December 2006, and was succeeded by [[OverlyLongName Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow]] in an election two months later. Ironically, Berdimuhamedow previously served as a dentist whose pension was taken away by Niyazov before he died; Berdimuhamedow returned the favor by restoring pensions to 100,000 affected doctors. To this day, Turkmenistan still qualifies as a PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny, being a single-party state (and that one party used to be the Communist Party), but Berdimuhamedow has taken steps to [[MeetTheNewBoss dismantle Niyazov's cult of personality in favor of his own]].

Turkmenistan ('''Turkmen:''' ''Türkmenistan''), formerly known as Turkmenia, is a Central Asian nation and a former republic of the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]], currently holding about 5.6 million people within its borders. It is bordered by UsefulNotes/{{Kazakhstan}} and UsefulNotes/{{Uzbekistan}} to the north, UsefulNotes/{{Afghanistan}} to the east, UsefulNotes/{{Iran}} to the south, and the Caspian Sea to the west. Its currency is the New Manat, its official language is Turkmen (not to be confused with Turkish, although they share a root dialect), its predominant religion is UsefulNotes/{{Islam}} and its capital is Ashgabat. The Turkmens, while related by virtue of shared ancestral culture, are not related to the Turkmens of UsefulNotes/{{Iraq}} and UsefulNotes/{{Syria}}, who have more in common with the Turkish and Azerbaijani peoples.

The Dahae nomadic confederation was one of the first peoples to live in the area. They were brought under control of the Persian Achaemenids, but broke away when the empire was annexed by [[UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat Alexander]]. They notably did not succumb to the Greeks' invasion, although a part of Margiana (specifically the city of Merv, now known as Mary) did fall and was known as "Alexandria Margiana" for some time. Then the land was conquered by Parthians and Sassanians. Arabs next came; their conquest was fully complete when Khwarezm fell to Qutayba ibn Muslim of the Umayyads. In eastern coast of the Caspian Sea, the Turks arrived from the former Western Turkic Khaganate and formed the Oghuz Yabgu State. This state is important as being the origin of modern-day Turkmens, who generally claimed them as their foremost ancestor. It was also from the Oghuz Yabgu that the Turks moved through the Iranian Plateau, the Middle East, and eventually the Anatolian Peninsula.

After a series of foreign rule by Persians, the region came into spotlight when the Turks invaded and set up three major empires: the Ghaznavids, the Seljuks, and Khwarezmians. Turkification of the region began in the earnest around this time. Gurganj (present-day Konye-Urgench) was the capital of the Khwarezmians for over a century, up until the Mongol invasions. During this time, the Khwarezmians was an a center of the Islamic Golden Age and one of the greatest powers in the world; Merv was claimed to be the world's most populous city in the 12th century. It produced many thinkers and scholars, including polymath and geographer Muhammad ibn Ahmad Al Biruni and Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, who made timeless contribution to mathematics and astronomy. The Europeans latinized his last name as Algaurizin, and then Algoritmi, and finally Algorithm. And now you know.

The fairytale didn't last forever, however. In the 13th century, UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan and his sons marched west into the Iranian Plateau along with their army and requested the surrender of the empires there. They refused and what followed was, to describe the least, catastrophe. Bactria and Sogdia were sacked and looted, Persia was reduced to lowly vassals, but their sufferings couldn't compare to what happened to the Khwarezmians. Like Western Xia before them, Genghis Khan was extremely furious against anyone who betrayed him when they had his trust, and when the Khwarezmians massacred a convoy of Mongols sent to bring the peace treaty, the Mongols responded by completely razing the empire to the ground and [[{{Unperson}} destroying everything marking that a civilization used to exist there]]. Historians unanimously regarded the destruction of the Khwarezmians as one of the bloodiest conflicts in human history.

The Ilkhanate inherited Margiana and Khwarezm following the breakup of the Mongol Empire and under their rule the territory recovered, but never again to achieve the glory of the past. Turkification had solidified by this time. In the early modern era, the Khanate of Khiva emerged from the heart of Khwarezm and controlled the eastern Caspian Sea. It was an Uzbek polity; the Turkmens were never interested in leaving their nomadic way of life. In the 19th century, the Russians annexed Central Asia and organized Margiana and the Karakum Desert as part of the Transcaspian Oblast, while Khwarezm was left at the hands of the Khiva protectorate. The [[UsefulNotes/RedOctober Russian Revolution]] made them independent for a while, but a futile Basmachi movement didn't stop the Soviets to conquer and made the region communist. First assigned under the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic was formed in 1925, with a half of the former Khorezm People's Socialist Republic tacked to the north. It declared independence in October 1991, which was recognized two months later as part of TheGreatPoliticsMessUp.

The country's population is overwhemingly ethnic Turkmens, who were and to some extent are still pastoral nomads. The Soviet rule forced them to go urban, but there has been revivals of their traditional way of life. Their language, originally written with the Arabic script (and still is in Iran and Afghanistan) and then Cyrillic, is now written with a strange Latin orthography (see Berdimuhamedow's name above) compared to other Latinate Turkic orthographies. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkmen_alphabet It was originally even weirder]]; the dollar, yen, and cent symbols, were used, for example.

There are also some Uzbeks in the former Khwarezm, and some Russians lounging in the cities. Surprisingly, there are very few Persians/Tajiks, in spite of the country's close proximity to Iran and large numbers of them in neighboring UsefulNotes/{{Uzbekistan}}.

The country's population is overwhemingly ethnic Turkmens, who were and to some extent are still pastoral nomads. The Soviet rule forced them to go urban, but there has been revivals of their traditional way of life. Their language, originally written with the Arabic script and then Cyrillic, is now written with a strange Latin orthography (see Berdimuhamedow's name above) compared to other Latinate Turkic orthographies. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkmen_alphabet It was originally even weirder]]; the dollar, yen, and cent symbols, were used, for example.

Turkmenistan ('''Turkmen:''' ''Türkmenistan''), formerly known as Turkmenia, is a Central Asian nation and a former republic of the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]]. It is bordered by UsefulNotes/{{Kazakhstan}} and UsefulNotes/{{Uzbekistan}} to the north, UsefulNotes/{{Afghanistan}} to the east, UsefulNotes/{{Iran}} to the south, and the Caspian Sea to the west. Its currency is the New Manat, its official language is Turkmen (not to be confused with Turkish, although they share a root dialect), its predominant religion is UsefulNotes/{{Islam}} and its capital is Ashgabat. The Turkmens, while related by virtue of shared ancestral culture, are not related to the Turkmens of UsefulNotes/{{Iraq}}, which have more in common with Turkish and Azerbaijani peoples.

Geographically and topographically, it's the lowest and flattest of all of the five Central Asian republics, and the stereotype of the Muslim-majority countries in Asia being all desert has some grains of truth here: the country really is 80% desert, even more so the farther west you go, and there's no major highlands or mountain ranges to counter it. That said, it should be stressed again that the population is ''not'' Arabs, and the stereotype ''definitely didn't'' apply to the surrounding countries (read: Iran and Afghanistan).

Turkmenistan's history can be summed up as continually being taken over by other armies on their way to bigger and brighter targets, culminating in its annexation by the Soviet Union in 1924, thus turning it into the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (Turkmen SSR). It declared independence in October 1991, which was recognized two months later as part of TheGreatPoliticsMessUp.

Till the present day, Turkmenistan is still by far the most isolated and unknown of the Central Asian republics, and this is after saying just how unknown Central Asia is to common people. This goes both ways since the internet is strictly controlled by the government; common Turkmens largely don't know the current conflicts faced by the world, or even the wars that are happening ''right next to their doorstep'' (read: TheWarOnTerror). So don't be surprised if they only give you funny looks when visitors tell them about the recent issues like Islamic fundamentalism, because to them, their faith has always been as it was: "folk Islam" involving pilgrimages to the graves of local saints that no puritanical Muslim would ever approve. This sadly makes the country, or the interesting sights like the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Door_to_Hell Door to Hell]], rarely mentioned by media.

Turkmenistan ('''Turkmen:''' ''Türkmenistan''), formerly known as Turkmenia, is a Central Asian nation and a former republic of the [[SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]]. It is bordered by UsefulNotes/{{Kazakhstan}} and UsefulNotes/{{Uzbekistan}} to the north, UsefulNotes/{{Afghanistan}} to the east, UsefulNotes/{{Iran}} to the south, and the Caspian Sea to the west. Its currency is the New Manat, its official language is Turkmen (not to be confused with Turkish, although they share a root dialect), its predominant religion is UsefulNotes/{{Islam}} and its capital is Ashgabat. The Turkmens, while related by virtue of shared ancestral culture, are not related to the Turkmens of UsefulNotes/{{Iraq}}, which have more in common with Turkish and Azerbaijani peoples.

However, things got worse from there. The first post-Soviet president, Saparmurat Niyazov, installed a [[{{Egopolis}} cult of personality]] rivaled only by UsefulNotes/NorthKorea or the Stalinist USSR. He renamed all months and days in the calendar [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas (including one named after his mother)]], built a gigantic golden statue of himself in Ashgabat, tried to build an enormous tried to build an enormous indoor ice skating rink near the capital (so people living in this ''desert'' country could learn to skate), banned things like the opera, circuses, video games [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and even gold tooth fillings and news presenters using makeup]] (because he was "having trouble telling them apart"), gave himself the title "Türkmenbaşy" (Leader of the Turkmens), renamed Krasnovodsk to [[{{Egopolis}} that title]], [[KickTheDog shut down all hospitals outside Ashgabat, arguing that sick Turkmens could "come to the capital" for treatment]], wrote the ''Ruhnama'', a book which was required to be memorized perfectly to hold government positions, apply for higher education, or even to ''own a driver's license'' and passed off as a text mosques were required by law (on penalty of having the mosques shut down at ''best'') to treat on the same level as the Quran - all despite Niyazov being "somewhat illiterate", and eventually declared himself president-for-life.

However, things got worse from there. The first post-Soviet president, Saparmurat Niyazov, installed a [[{{Egopolis}} cult of personality]] rivaled only by UsefulNotes/NorthKorea or the Stalinist USSR. He renamed all months and days in the calendar [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas (including one named after his mother)]], built a gigantic golden statue of himself in Ashgabat, tried to build an enormous tried to build an enormous indoor ice skating rink near the capital (so people living in this ''desert'' country could skate), banned things like the opera, circuses, video games [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and even gold tooth fillings and news presenters using makeup]] (because he was "having trouble telling them apart"), gave himself the title "Türkmenbaşy" (Leader of the Turkmens), renamed Krasnovodsk to [[{{Egopolis}} that title]], [[KickTheDog shut down all hospitals outside Ashgabat, arguing that sick Turkmens could "come to the capital" for treatment]], wrote the ''Ruhnama'', a book which was required to be memorized perfectly to hold government positions, apply for higher education, or even to ''own a driver's license'' and passed off as a text mosques were required by law (on penalty of having the mosques shut down at ''best'') to treat on the same level as the Quran - all despite Niyazov being "somewhat illiterate", and eventually declared himself president-for-life.

However, things got worse from there. The first post-Soviet president, Saparmurat Niyazov, installed a [[{{Egopolis}} cult of personality]] rivaled only by UsefulNotes/NorthKorea or the Stalinist USSR. He renamed all months and days in the calendar [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas (including one named after his mother)]], built a gigantic golden statue of himself in Ashgabat, tried to build an enormous IcePalace (in a country covered by ''desert''), banned things like the opera, circuses, video games [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and even gold tooth fillings and news presenters using makeup]] (because he was "having trouble telling them apart"), gave himself the title "Türkmenbaşy" (Leader of the Turkmens), renamed Krasnovodsk to [[{{Egopolis}} that title]], [[KickTheDog shut down all hospitals outside Ashgabat, arguing that sick Turkmens could "come to the capital" for treatment]], wrote the ''Ruhnama'', a book which was required to be memorized perfectly to hold government positions, apply for higher education, or even to ''own a driver's license'' and passed off as a text mosques were required by law (on penalty of having the mosques shut down at ''best'') to treat on the same level as the Quran - all despite Niyazov being "somewhat illiterate", and eventually declared himself president-for-life.

However, things got worse from there. The first post-Soviet president, Saparmurat Niyazov, installed a [[{{Egopolis}} cult of personality]] rivaled only by UsefulNotes/NorthKorea or the Stalinist USSR. He renamed all months and days in the calendar [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas (including one named after his mother)]], built a gigantic golden statue of himself in Ashgabat, tried to build an enormous ice palace (in a country covered by ''desert''), banned things like the opera, circuses, video games [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and even gold tooth fillings and news presenters using makeup]] (because he was "having trouble telling them apart"), gave himself the title "Türkmenbaşy" (Leader of the Turkmens), renamed Krasnovodsk to [[{{Egopolis}} that title]], [[KickTheDog shut down all hospitals outside Ashgabat, arguing that sick Turkmens could "come to the capital" for treatment]], wrote the ''Ruhnama'', a book which was required to be memorized perfectly to hold government positions, apply for higher education, or even to ''own a driver's license'' and passed off as a text mosques were required by law (on penalty of having the mosques shut down at ''best'') to treat on the same level as the Quran - all despite Niyazov being "somewhat illiterate", and eventually declared himself president-for-life.

Geographically and topographically, it's the lowest and flattest of all of the five Central Asian republics, and the stereotype of the Muslim-majority countries in Asia being all desert has some grains of truth here: the country really is 80% desert, even more so the farther west you go, and there's no major highlands or mountain ranges to counter it. That said, it should be stressed again that the population is ''not'' Arabs, and the stereotype ''definitely didn't'' apply to the surrounding countries (read: Iran and Afghanistan.

Turkmenistan ('''Turkmen:''' ''Türkmenistan''), formerly known as Turkmenia, is a Central Asian nation and a former republic of the [[SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]]. It is bordered by UsefulNotes/{{Kazakhstan}} and UsefulNotes/{{Uzbekistan}} to the north, UsefulNotes/{{Afghanistan}} to the east, UsefulNotes/{{Iran}} to the south, and the Caspian Sea to the west. Its currency is the New Manat, its official language is Turkmen (not to be confused with Turkish, although they share a root dialect), its predominant religion is UsefulNotes/{{Islam}} and its capital is Ashgabat.

However, things got worse from there. The first post-Soviet president, Saparmurat Niyazov, installed a [[{{Egopolis}} cult of personality]] rivaled only by UsefulNotes/NorthKorea or the Stalinist USSR. He renamed all months and days in the calendar [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas (including one named after his mother)]], built a gigantic golden statue of himself in Ashgabat, tried to build an enormous ice palace (in a country covered by ''desert''), banned things like the opera, circuses, video games [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and even gold tooth fillings and news presenters using makeup]] (because he was "having trouble telling them apart"), gave himself the title "Türkmenbaşy" (Leader of the Turkmens), renamed Krasnovodsk to [[{{Egopolis}} that title]], wrote the ''Ruhnama'', an autobiography and passed it off as a religious text on the same level as the Quran, [[KickTheDog shut down all hospitals outside Ashgabat, arguing that sick Turkmens could "come to the capital" for treatment]], and eventually declared himself president-for-life.

Turkmenistan (spelled Türkmenistan in the local language) is a Central Asian nation and a former republic of the [[SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]]. It is bordered by UsefulNotes/{{Kazakhstan}} and UsefulNotes/{{Uzbekistan}} to the north, UsefulNotes/{{Afghanistan}} to the east, UsefulNotes/{{Iran}} to the south, and the Caspian Sea to the west. Its currency is the New Manat, its official language is Turkmen (not to be confused with Turkish, although they share a root dialect), its predominant religion is UsefulNotes/{{Islam}} and its capital is Ashgabat.

However, things got worse from there. The first post-Soviet president, Saparmurat Niyazov, installed a [[{{Egopolis}} cult of personality]] rivaled only by UsefulNotes/NorthKorea or the Stalinist USSR. He renamed all months and days in the calendar [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas (including one named after his mother)]], built a gigantic golden statue of himself in Ashgabat, tried to build an enormous ice palace (in a country covered by ''desert''), banned things like the opera, circuses, video games [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and even gold tooth fillings and news presenters using makeup]], gave himself the title "Türkmenbaşy" (Leader of the Turkmens), renamed Krasnovodsk to [[{{Egopolis}} that title]], wrote the ''Ruhnama'', an autobiography and passed it off as a religious text on the same level as the Quran, [[KickTheDog shut down all hospitals outside Ashgabat, arguing that sick Turkmens could "come to the capital" for treatment]], and eventually declared himself president-for-life.

However, things got worse from there. The first post-Soviet president, Saparmurat Niyazov, installed (what could be seen as) a [[{{Egopolis}} cult of personality]] rivaled only by UsefulNotes/NorthKorea or Stalinist USSR. He renamed all months and days in the calendar [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas (including one named after his mother)]], built a gigantic golden statue of himself in Ashgabat, tried to build an enormous ice palace (in a country covered by ''desert''), banned things like the opera, circuses, video games [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and even gold tooth fillings and news presenters using makeup]], gave himself the title "Türkmenbaşy" (Leader of the Turkmens), renamed Krasnovodsk to exactly that, wrote the ''Ruhnama'', an autobiography and passed it off as a religious text on the same level as the Quran, [[KickTheDog shut down all hospitals outside Ashgabat, arguing that sick Turkmens could "come to the capital" for treatment]], and eventually declared himself president-for-life.

However, things got worse from there. The first post-Soviet president, Saparmurat Niyazov, installed (what could be seen as) a [[{{Egopolis}} cult of personality]] rivaled only by UsefulNotes/NorthKorea or Stalinist USSR. He renamed all months and days in the calendar [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas (including one named after his mother)]], built a gigantic golden statue of himself in Ashgabat, tried to build an enormous ice palace (in a country covered by ''desert''), banned things like the opera, circuses, video games [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and even gold tooth fillings and news presenters using makeup]], gave himself the title "Türkmenbaşy" (Leader of the Turkmens), renamed Krasnovodsk to exactly that, wrote the ''Ruhnama'', an autobiography and passed it off as a religious text on the same level as the Quran, and eventually declared himself president-for-life.

However, things got worse from there. The first post-Soviet president, Saparmurat Niyazov, installed (what could be seen as) a [[{{Egopolis}} cult of personality]] rivaled only by UsefulNotes/NorthKorea or Stalinist USSR. He renamed all months and days in the calendar [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas (including one named after his mother)]], built a gigantic golden statue of himself in Ashgabat, tried to build an enormous ice palace (in a country covered by ''desert''), banned things like the opera, circuses, video games [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and even gold tooth fillings and news presenters using makeup]], gave himself the title "Türkmenbaşy" (Leader of the Turkmens), renamed a port on the Caspian Sea to exactly that, wrote the ''Ruhnama'', an autobiography and passed it off as a religious text on the same level as the Quran, and eventually declared himself president-for-life.

Fortunately, that "for-life" part didn't last long. Niyazov died of a heart attack on 21 December 2006, and was succeeded by [[OverlyLongName Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow]] in an election two months later. Ironically, Berdimuhamedow previously served as a dentist whose pension was taken away by Nizayov before he died; Berdimuhamedow returned the favor by restoring pensions to 100,000 affected doctors. To this day, Turkmenistan still qualifies as a PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny, being a single-party state (and that one party used to be the Communist Party), but Berdimuhamedow has taken steps to [[MeetTheNewBoss dismantle Niyazov's cult of personality in favor of his own]].

However, things got worse from there. The first post-Soviet president, Saparmurat Nizayov, installed (what could be seen as) a [[{{Egopolis}} cult of personality]] rivaled only by UsefulNotes/NorthKorea or Stalinist USSR. He renamed all months and days in the calendar [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas (including one named after his mother)]], built a gigantic golden statue of himself in Ashgabat, tried to build an enormous ice palace (in a country covered by ''desert''), banned things like the opera, circuses, video games [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and even gold tooth fillings and news presenters using makeup]], gave himself the title "Türkmenbaşy" (Leader of the Turkmens), renamed a port on the Caspian Sea to exactly that, wrote the ''Ruhnama'', an autobiography and passed it off as a religious text on the same level as the Quran, and eventually declared himself president-for-life.

Fortunately, that "for-life" part didn't last long. Nizayov died of a heart attack on 21 December 2006, and was succeeded by [[OverlyLongName Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow]] in an election two months later. Ironically, Berdimuhamedow previously served as a dentist whose pension was taken away by Nizayov before he died; Berdimuhamedow returned the favor by restoring pensions to 100,000 affected doctors. To this day, Turkmenistan still qualifies as a PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny, being a single-party state (and that one party used to be the Communist Party), but Berdimuhamedow has taken steps to [[MeetTheNewBoss dismantle Nizayov's cult of personality in favor of his own]].

However, things got worse from there. The first post-Soviet president, Saparmurat Nizayov, installed (what could be seen as) a [[{{Egopolis}} cult of personality]] rivaled only by UsefulNotes/NorthKorea or Stalinist USSR. He renamed all months and days in the calendar [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas (including one named after his mother)]], built a gigantic golden statue of himself in Ashgabat, tried to build an enormous ice palace (in a country covered by ''desert''), banned things like the opera, circuses, video games [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and even gold tooth fillings]], gave himself the title "Türkmenbaşy" (Leader of the Turkmens), wrote the ''Ruhnama'', an autobiography and passed it off as a religious text on the same level as the Quran, and eventually declared himself president-for-life.

However, things got worse from there. The first post-Soviet president, Sapuramat Nizayov, installed (what could be seen as) a [[{{Egopolis}} cult of personality]] rivaled only by UsefulNotes/NorthKorea or Stalinist USSR. He renamed all months and days in the calendar [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas (including one named after his mother)]], built a gigantic golden statue of himself in Ashgabat, tried to build an enormous ice palace (in a country covered by ''desert''), banned things like the opera, circuses, video games [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and even gold tooth fillings]], gave himself the title "Türkmenbaşy" (Leader of the Turkmens), wrote the ''Ruhnama'', an autobiography and passed it off as a religious text on the same level as the Quran, and eventually declared himself president-for-life.

However, things got worse from there. The first post-Soviet president, Sapuramat Nizayov, installed (what could be seen as) a [[{{Egopolis}} cult of personality]] rivaled only by UsefulNotes/NorthKorea or the Stalin-era USSR. He renamed all the months and days in the calendar [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas (including one named after his mother)]], built a gigantic golden statue of himself in Ashgabat, tried to build an enormous ice palace (in a country covered by ''desert''), banned things like the opera, circuses, video games, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and even gold tooth fillings]], gave himself the title "Türkmenbaşy" (Leader of the Turkmens), wrote the ''Ruhnama'', an autobiography and passed it off as a religious text on the same level as the Quran, and eventually declared himself president-for-life.

Fortunately, that "for-life" part didn't last long. Nizayov died of a heart attack on 21 December 2006, and was succeeded by [[OverlyLongName Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow]] in an election two months later. Ironically, Berdimuhamedow previously served as a dentist whose pension was taken away by Nizayov before he died; Berdimuhamedow returned the favor by restoring pensions to 100,000 affected doctors. To this day, Turkmenistan still qualifies as a PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny, being a single-party state (and that one party used to be the Communist Party), but Berdimuhamedow has taken steps to [[WorldHealingWave dismantle Nizayov's cult of personality]] [[MeetTheNewBoss and replace it with his own]].

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/125px-Flag_of_Turkmenistan_svg_3403.png

However, things got worse from there. The first post-Soviet president, Sapuramat Nizayov, installed (what could be seen as) a [[{{Egopolis}} cult of personality]] rivaled only by UsefulNotes/NorthKorea or the Stalin-era USSR. He renamed all the months and days in the calendar [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas (including one named after his mother)]], banned things like the opera, circuses, video games, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and even gold tooth fillings]], gave himself the title "Türkmenbaşy" (Leader of the Turkmens), wrote the ''Ruhnama'', an autobiography and passed it off as a religious text on the same level as the Quran, and eventually declared himself president-for-life.

However, ItGotWorse. The first post-Soviet president, Sapuramat Nizayov, installed (what could be seen as) a [[{{Egopolis}} cult of personality]] rivaled only by UsefulNotes/NorthKorea or the Stalin-era USSR. He renamed all the months and days in the calendar [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas (including one named after his mother)]], banned things like the opera, circuses, video games, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and even gold tooth fillings]], gave himself the title "Türkmenbaşy" (Leader of the Turkmens), wrote the ''Ruhnama'', an autobiography and passed it off as a religious text on the same level as the Quran, and eventually declared himself president-for-life.

Fortunately, that "for-life" part didn't last. Nizayov died of a heart attack on 21 December 2006, and was succeeded by [[OverlyLongName Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow]] in an election two months later. Ironically, Berdimuhamedow previously served as a dentist whose pension was taken away by Nizayov before he died; Berdimuhamedow returned the favor by restoring pensions to 100,000 affected doctors. To this day, Turkmenistan still qualifies as a PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny, being a single-party state (and that one party used to be the Communist Party), but Berdimuhamedow has taken steps to [[WorldHealingWave dismantle Nizayov's cult of personality]] [[MeetTheNewBoss and replace it with his own]].

Fortunately [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement (for the West)]], that "for-life" part didn't last. Nizayov died of a heart attack on 21 December 2006, and was succeeded by [[OverlyLongName Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow]] in an election two months later. Ironically, Berdimuhamedow previously served as a dentist whose pension was taken away by Nizayov before he died; Berdimuhamedow returned the favor by restoring pensions to 100,000 affected doctors. To this day, Turkmenistan still qualifies as a PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny, being a single-party state (and that one party used to be the Communist Party), but Berdimuhamedow has taken steps to [[WorldHealingWave dismantle Nizayov's cult of personality]] [[MeetTheNewBoss and replace it with his own]].

Fortunately [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement (for the West)]], that "for-life" part didn't last. Nizayov died of a heart attack on 21 December 2006, and was succeeded by [[OverlyLongName Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow]] in an election two months later. Ironically, Berdimuhamedow previously served as a dentist whose pension was taken away by Nizayov before he died; Berdimuhamedow returned the favor by restoring pensions to 100,000 affected doctors. To this day, Turkmenistan still qualifies as a PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny, being a single-party state (and that one party used to be the Communist Party), but Berdimuhamedow has taken steps to dismantle Nizayov's cult of personality and replace it with his own.

Fortunately [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement (for the West)]], that "for-life" part didn't last. Nizayov died of a heart attack on 21 December 2006, and was succeeded by [[OverlyLongName Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow]] in an election two months later. Ironically, Berdimuhamedow previously served as a dentist whose pension was taken away by Nizayov before he died; Berdimuhamedow returned the favor by restoring pensions to 100,000 affected doctors. To this day, Turkmenistan still qualifies as a PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny, being a single-party state (and that one party used to be the Communist Party), but Berdimuhamedow has taken steps to dismantle Nizayov's cult of personality.