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Here in America we worry about what crazy thing the president will attempt next. But I find it enjoyable to worry about the crazy things being attempted by other rulers around the world. It takes my mind off Bush and let's me think to myself, "Well at least we don't have it as bad as (fill in the blank)" So here is some craziness from around the world, for your consideration.
The president of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Niyazov, today (June 21) made a request to his country, "Don't praise me. I even feel uncomfortable appearing at various meetings and events. It upsets me that I'm the only one who gets credit for all Turkmenistan's achievements. In fact, they belong to the entire Turkmen people. The glorifying odes make me wish the earth could swallow me up. Each song is about me. Shame makes me look aside."
This is the same Saparmurat Niyazov who has filled the country with monuments to himself, whose subjects call him Turkmenbashi, or "the Father of all Turkmens". In the main square of the capital Ashgabat, a golden statue of Niyazov rotates to always face the sun. His face is on the country's currency and is the national television logo. He has renamed months after himself and his mother. He gives his people a dress code (no gold teeth, no long hair or beards on men, women must wear braids or hats). He has written a holy book, the Rukhnama, to replace the Koran the people prefer. If you're interested, the Rukhnama is online at http://www.rukhnama.com/.
And now the great Turkmenbashi feels uncomfortable when people praise him. It's what they've been trained to do since 1985 when he took over (as a Soviet appointee). Does he actually want them to stop? Has he looked into his soul and been horrified? Has he had a "Saul on the road to Damascus" moment and realized the truth about himself and his country?
Or is it more likely that he's always known the truth about himself and his country? He is certainly a man with delusions of grandeur, but does he have illusions about what a tyrant he is? Possibly. I've never met the man, never psycho-analyzed him.
But if we doubt that he's turning over a new leaf, what other reasons could there be for the pronouncement he made June 21? My best guesses are that either: 1) It's a trick. He wants to see who actually stops praising him, so he can do away with those people. 2) He finds the praising simply annoying.
I'll hope it's number 2. The news site EurasiaNet has another theory. In May, Niyazov ordered dozens of his portraits taken down. Reportedly he told his subordinates, "There's no need to compete by putting up my portraits everywhere. It's because of your toadying that they criticize me for encouraging a cult of personality."
The EurasiaNet article suspects that Niyazov is worried about international pereception of him. Around the same time as he had the portraits he taken down he apparently ordered a purge of police who had abused prisoners. The EurasiaNet article ends by urging the media "to retire the creaky knee-slappers about the 'world's weirdest dictator' and begin writing in greater depth about a place that is, to be honest, no longer terribly funny."
I've long enjoyed the media stories about the 'world's weirdest dictator' but I see their point.
