So, it seems Turkmenistan has a very very wacky ruler

[Gibsie]

Laz should HF this guy.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by OneFootInTheGrave


Hey, Turkmenistan is an US ally,

No it isnt.

[Admiral]

Originally posted by OneFootInTheGrave


Hey, Turkmenistan is an US ally.

You're thinking of Uzbekistan. There, the ruler is very sane, and also very willing to kill or torture anyone who disagrees with him.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Admiral


You're thinking of Uzbekistan. There, the ruler is very sane, and also very willing to kill or torture anyone who disagrees with him.

Uzbekistan evicted us from the bases there, cause we were making do big a fuss about human rights.

[Barnabas]

El bumpo

"Turkmen President Promises Heaven to All Readers of His New Book


Turkmenistan’s president-for-life Saparmurat Niyazov announced on state television that anyone reading his philosophical work three times would be assured a place in heaven, AFP reported.

“Anyone who reads the Rukhnama three times will find spiritual wealth, will become more intelligent, will recognize the divine being and will go straight to heaven,” Niyazov said Monday.

The Turkmen leader said he had “called on Allah” while working on the two-volume book to ensure that enthusiastic readers would be given quicker access to heaven.

Niyazov, known as Turkmenbashi (Leader of the Turkmen Peoples), has set up a bizarre personality cult, including erecting gold statues of himself and his deceased parents in strategic spots across his largely-desert country.

The Rukhnama, a collection of philosophical and religious writings, is compulsory reading for schoolchildren and government officials across the former Soviet republic in Central Asia."

http://mosnews.com/news/2006/03/21/heavenlypromise.shtml

[Apocalypse]

Cool, Dan Brown doesn't promise that

[Barnabas]

I think this guy should reform islam!

[RGBVideo]

He's a funny guy, but not dangerous for rest of the world. Kind of like Kim Jong-Il without nukes and crappy hairdo. He probably went a little bonkers after half of his relatives got killed in WW2 and the other half in an earthquake in 1948, leaving him into the care of USSR state orphanage at the age of eight. If I would've spent my childhood under the patronage of the state of the Soviet Union, I'd be a bit crazy too.

Ranked 18 in the Stock of Dictators, between Ceausescu and Milosevic. In contrast to the current rulers of his neighbouring countries, he's a pretty nice guy actually.

[alva]

That's the same guy why made beards illigal, right?

[Gangerolf]

yep.

As President-for-Life of Turkmenistan, he has issued many unconventional decrees, such as:

* banning news readers from wearing make-up as Niyazov had difficulty telling male and female readers apart

* banning lip syncing when performing songs

* In December, 1999, that every school pupil, student, soldier and military officer in Turkmenistan is to be presented on New Year's Eve with a watch bearing the picture of President Saparmurat Niyazov

* In April, 2001, banning ballet and opera, describing them as "Not a part of Turkmen culture"

* In 2001, forbidding young men to wear long hair or beards

* In June 2001, requiring foreigners wishing to marry a Turkmen national to pay a $50,000 fee.

* In 2002, renaming bread from chorek, the traditional Turkmen word, to Gurbansoltan edzhe after his mother

* In August 2002, redefining the stages of life, with adolescence extending to 25 and old age beginning at 85 (detailed below)

* In 2004, insisting that all licensed drivers pass a morality test

* In March 2004, dismissing 15,000 public health workers in wide-ranging cuts that particularly targeted nurses, midwives, school health visitors and orderlies[1]

* In April 2004, urging young people not to get gold tooth caps or gold teeth, suggesting instead that they chew on bones to preserve their teeth[2]

* In February 2005, ordering the closure of all hospitals outside Ashgabat, saying that if people were ill, they could come to the capital; also ordering the closure of all rural libraries of Turkmenistan, saying that ordinary Turkmens do not read books anyway[3]

* In November 2005, ordering that physicians swear an oath to himself instead of the Hippocratic Oath

* In December 2005, banning video games, stating that they were too violent for young Turkmen to play

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niyazov

[Myrddin]

Only country I've visited where customs searched all luggage in and out

If they get a gas pipeline built then the country (or the leader) is going to be incredibly rich, which is not a comforting thought

[General Ludd]

I think in many ways it's better to have a blatantly crazy leader than one who purports to be decent, sane, and moral.

If bush was building gold statues of hismelf and building penguin ranches instead of liberating everyone from themselves, he wouldn't be hated so much.

[Japher]

The guy sounds like my kind of guy

When I rule the world I will vow to put a penguin in every home!

[Tattila the Hun]

Originally posted by Gangerolf

* banning lip syncing when performing songs

* In 2004, insisting that all licensed drivers pass a morality test

I started to like the guy...

* In December 2005, banning video games, stating that they were too violent for young Turkmen to play

Now I want him dead.

The videogames make me violent.

[The Mad Monk]

He wants to be the next Mohammed.