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R.I.P. Saparmurat Niyazov

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6198983.stm

Perhaps the world's coolest leader has snuffed it. Shame really. The stuff he did makes every other world leader's accomplishments seem pathetically small.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saparmurat_Niyazov
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Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    He was very good at torturing people, wasn't he?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Give me a leader who isn't/wasn't.

    Here are some of his more awesome acheivements.

    Renaming the months of the calendar after himself and his family
    Banning beards
    Banning gold teeth
    Banning opera, Ballet and non-turkmen culture
    Banning listening to car radios
    Forcing education to be based around his mystical work, the Rukhnama. Questions on this book, which is about his life, are asked in driving tests. Needless to say you must answer correctly to pass.

    What a guy.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Shame he didn't ban himself from torturing people.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Well they have to keep the damn natives at bay somehow don't they?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Is this a humourous/ironic thread?

    Or is Thunderstruck 13 years old?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Wow he even had his own theme park - what a cool guy
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Close - 22.

    I do have a soft spot for the guy but it was only meant semi-seriously.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    According to their constitution he was his own successor, which hasnt worked so well for him.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Wyetry wrote:
    Wow he even had his own theme park - what a cool guy

    I'm sure Blair would like Blairworld and Bush would want something similar but could any world leader pull it off?

    Niyazov, better known as Turkmenabashi also has a statue of himself, made of gold in the capital city that rotates just ahead of the sun, so it looks like he is directing the sun where to go. What a guy.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Wow even Hitler didn't think of that! Plus he has his own book like all good dictators - if i ever get my own country i'm going to have the little pink sparkly book to rival the red (mao) and green (gadaffi) ones.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    What a fascinating thread.

    Where does all this love (and it sure looks like love to me) for authority come from ?

    Does someone know if there is a gene for sadomasochism that I am not aware of ?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    So, does his death mean that the beard ban will be overturned?
    Not that I'm planning to visit Turkmenistan any time soon, but i wouldn't want to be found flouting the law should I end up there for some reason.:chin:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I love this bit - especially about learner drivers! :-

    "Intent on taming the intelligentsia, from where he perceived the greatest threat to his rule could emerge, he systematically created a culture of fawning ignorance.

    To achieve this, he forced everyone to become familiar with the Rukhmana, or "book of the soul", a ponderous 400- page volume that established his cult.

    School pupils were made to devote a third of their time to learning the book by heart, while state officials and all professionals were required to sit regular examinations on the Rukhmana. If they failed, they were sacked. The book was placed in mosques across the mainly Sunni Muslim country and worshippers were told that if they kissed it they would be blessed. If they read it out loud, Mr Niyazov promised, they would go straight to Heaven when they died.

    When Turkmenistan's chief Mufti complained, he was jailed.

    Even those wanting to pass their driving test had to do a 16-hour course in the Rukhnama. Although the book claims that Turkmens invented the wheel, it provided few clues to learners about driving."

    Less funny ... :-

    "His disdain for doctors and treatment of the health sector will be his most poisonous legacy.

    Medical students were allowed only to study the Rukhnama and the writings of the medieval Persian philosopher and physician Avicenna.

    The president closed all hospitals outside the capital and ordered the top doctors to work as cotton pickers.

    As a result disease flourished. Inexperienced medics misdiagnosed or mistreated their patients who died in droves.

    In response to an outbreak of bubonic plague in 2004, Mr Niyazov banned the word "plague" and outlawed all infectious diseases. Hundreds died."

    Source : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/12/22/wturkmen22.xml
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Wow what a man the banning of the word plage is excellent!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Buy your own copy here from e-bay :-

    http://tinyurl.com/yndhht

    Woo! :lol:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2097771.ece

    Don't you just love 'democracy' in one party states.
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