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Turkmenistan is an old Soviet republic. It used to be in the backyard of the superpower until the breakdown of the Soviet Union. Moscow pumped oil and gas from there for the whole world’s needs. The territory located by the shore of the Caspian Sea in Central Asia became independent in 1991 at the same time as the other border republics.

While the Baltic countries started to build democratic governments, Turkmenistan and other Central Asian former Soviet republics found themselves taken over by strong, individualist presidents. Turkmenistan closed its doors to the outside world. Saparmurat Niyazov has ruled the country since the day Turkmenistan proclaimed its independence from the USSR, on October 27th 1991.

The personality cult of the Turkmen president Niyazov, is singularly extreme. The death penalty is – at least officially – removed. However, according to the international Human Rights Watch, the rights of the Turkmen people are continuously violated in a uniquely flagrant way. Niyazov has continually tightened his restrictions on the liberties of his citizens, always worsening their situation.

Niyazov insists on being called Turkmenbashi the Great, which means The great leader of all Turkmen .

The position of Niyazov culminates in the Ruhnama Park, ornamented with fountains, in the center of the capital, Ashgabat. In the middle of the park stands a ten-meter-tall statue portraying a book. In pastel colors it reminds of the plastic fairytale statues of Disneyworld. The monument is an exact reproduction of Ruhnama.

The book is more of an absentmindedly written national epic than an ideological diatribe like Mao’s Little Red Book. On the first page of Ruhnama, there is a presentation and a photo of the president: Saparmurat Turkmenbashi the Great, the life-long president of independent and unallied Turkmenistan.

The big foreign corporations and governments bow to this odd dictator because of the country’s enormous natural wealth. This land of only 4,5 million people is one of the world’s major sources of oil and gas. It has been estimated that over twice as much gas is still to be found in the country.

This is why the country – also known as the Kuwait of the Caspian Sea – is one of the most important targets for the big powers in a new Big Game, a modern replay of 19th Century imperialism. Now the main players of the game are Russia, the United States and China.

Foreign currency holds up the dictatorship despite the dissatisfaction of the Turkmen nation. It has been estimated that over half of the money coming from foreign trade is guided to the president’s private accounts.

As a significant part of the game, the Ruhnama project props up the personality cult of Saparmurat Niyazov and ties the Western countries to his dictatorship.

Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov became president of Turkmenistan after Niyazov’s death and has continued to recognize not only the cult of Niyazov but the cult of the Ruhnama.
When Niyazov died in December 2006, his traditional supporters and colleagues immediately acted to maintain their power. They manipulated the Turkmen constitution, appointing Berdymuhammedov as acting president even though this position should have legally gone to the chairman of the Turkmenistan assembly.

The government held the chairman to be disqualified because criminal proceedings were being brought against him. This was a traditional method that Niyazov used to attack his political opponents throughout his career. Again, under the constitution, Berdymuhammedov should not have been allowed to run for the presidential election because acting presidents are disqualified from the election. However, the government voted to strike down this rule. International commentators have denounced the election of Berdymuhammedov as neither free nor fair (Radio Free Europe) and as blatantly falsified (International Crisis Group). M rigged and non-democratic. The six candidates all came from a single political party – the party of the country’s ruling elite – and the government claimed that Berdymuhammedov won 89% of the vote. All of the candidates promised to uphold the legacy of Niyazov. Since being elected, Berdymuhammedov has gone out of his way to declare his public support for the Ruhnama. Indeed, he has recently met with Ahmet Chalik and has praised Chalik for his contribution to Turkmenistan. Moreover, at this same meeting, the new president told Chalik to submit a bid for building the new Ruhnama University. In this way, the president has clearly signalled that the Ruhnama will maintain its status as a symbol that international businesses must support if they want to work in the country. Similarly, the president has also declared that the Ruhnama will remain an important part of the country’s educational system. The new government has already organized a large and highly publicized conference where the subject will be the educational value of the Ruhnama. Consequently, at least for the time being, Berdymuhammedov has committed to continuing use of the Ruhnama in both the educational context and the international business context.

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