September 24, 2007
ICYMI: Another Potentially Crazy World Leader At Columbia
According to Columbia's campus newspaper's special Ahmadineblog, the president of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, was also speaking on campus today. Berdymukhammedov was the practically appointed successor of Saparmurat Niyazov, whose photo you will find in the dictionary under "delusional megalomaniac."
Niyazov, who preferred to be known as Turkmenbashi, or Leader of All Turkmen, ruled his impoverished underlings with an iron fist. The tiny, energy-rich Eurasian nation is littered with giant portraits and extravagant statues of Turkmenbashi. According to an unforgettable profile in the New Yorker last year, doctors take the Hippocratic oath in the name of Turkmenbashi, and the month of January was renamed Turkmenbashi. Turkmenbashi's image appears on the currency as well as on the national vodka. His book, "Ruhnama," or "Book of the Soul," was required daily reading for children and adults alike.
The cult of fear this president for life instituted is so pervasive, visiting reporters describe the country as a kind of deranged Disneyland. Human rights are practically nonexistent, and citizens live in constant fear of the authorities.
Berdymukhammedov, who came to power in a rigged election following Turkmenbashi's death last year, promised to follow in Turkmenbashi's footsteps. And so he has: The government has held several galas in his honor and issued special coins bearing his portrait on his birthday. But there are some differences; for instance, he's ordered his countrymen not to turn his birthday into an annual festival. They did so anyway, perhaps out of habit/fear.
More poignantly, the new president has instituted some badly needed economic reforms. He's also opening up his country to trade, and will address the U.N. General Assembly this week -- something Turkmenbashi never did. Human rights and free speech groups plan to grill him during his stay in New York. Berdymukhammedov is also set to meet with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, though the agenda for those talks haven't been disclosed.
Berdymukhammedov, who was reportedly training to be a dentist before Turkmenbashi tapped him for loftier things, also will meet with U.S. business leaders. While his predecessor gave Kim Jong Il a run for his money, Berdymukhammedov seems to want to move his country out of isolation. Sunlight could snap the people of Turkmenistan out of the surreal nightmare they've been living in for so long. If Berdymukhammedov shows willingness to abide that -- and to be clear, he hasn't yet -- it will be one of those good-news stories we haven't been seeing much of in recent years.
"Ruhnama" contains some passages that are pretty hilarious -- unless you live in Turkmenistan, of course. (Sample: "Up until now, there were a number of words, special words, but not a whole word. 'Ruhnama' should fill this gap.") You can read it on an official government Web site. Two years ago, Turkmenbashi reportedly had a copy of the book that "conquered the hearts of millions on Earth" blasted into space. According to a national newswire, 1,222 of "the world's largest libraries" were bestowed with the book, due to "daily requests from abroad."
