Turkmenistan - GOVERNMENT ... , and the "cult of personality" that has formed around President Niyazov. Niyazov's name has been given to streets, schools, communal farms, and numerous other ...

When Turkmenistan’s President Niyazov died in 2006, it was the end of an eccentric personality cult. His successor promised to open the state up but today the gas-rich nation is still an enigma.

The former dentist was the Minister of Health under late President Saparmurat Niyazov and has kept many of his predecessors isolationist policies in place. Turkmenistan - a gas-rich desert nation ...