Night at the Theatre 15,000 Manat (60¢), Taxi Cab 5,000 Manat (20¢), Turkmenbashi – Priceless

Truly the best things in this city (Ashgabat) are free. They are the monuments that dot the city’s landscape. If nothing else, they show a tremendous amount of creativity on the part of their designers (and no doubt on the part of Turkmenbashi). The modern city is pretty much the result of planning by Turkmenbashi (Father of the Turkmen, a title adopted by Niyazov).

Where to being? Ashgabat was completely destroyed by the 1948 earthquake (~119,000 died, including Turkmenbashi’s mother and two brothers). The cleanup took about 5 years, after which the Communists went to work creating a Soviet-style city. In 1991, after gaining independence, Sparmurat Niyazov (Gorbachev’s hope for Perestroika in the Turkmen Socialist Soviet Republic), became the President of the new country. He has made this country into the one-man Stan (see Atlantic Monthly article). Consolidating power as the First Secretary of the Communist Party, Niyazov renamed the party after independence in 1991. In 1992, Niyazov was re-elected president with 99.5% of the vote. More amazingly, at the very end of 1993 the parliament voted to extend Niyazov’s term and who would have guessed, but 99.99% of the population voted in agreement. Now, Turkmenbashi wanted to step down, but the people thought otherwise and voted to install him as President for Life in 1999. What an accomplishment!

Since being elected Turkmenbashi has set out on a great plan of nation-building and city planning. More and more white marble buildings are going up all over Ashgabat (including my favorite Ministry for Gas and Oil which is in the shape of – and I’m not kidding you here – a cigarette lighter). I haven’t been able to get a picture of it yet, as photographing government buildings is illegal, but I’ll see what I can do. While the white marble buildings seem to fit in the city, the coniferous trees don’t seem to be doing as well. I’m guessing this has something to do with the climate.

Turkmenbashi’s nation-building plan was important for the new nation, particularly since Turkmenistan never existed as an independent nation. Turkmenistan is mostly made up of the fierce Kara Kum desert and has a historic tradition of nomadic warriors. In fact, the most dangerous part of crossing the dessert during the Great Game was the fierce Turcomen tribes. Modern day Turkemenistan has belonged to the Parthians, Sasanians, Rome, Byzantium, Genghis Khan’s Mongols, Tamerlane’s Empire, the Safavids, and finally the Russians. It’s oases comprised major stopping points along the Silk Road (I will be visiting Merv, which is one such city). The Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic was established in October of 1924 and it was the last of the Stans to join the USSR. Basmachi rebels resisted and proved to be a thorn in the USSR’s side as they continued to fight guerilla warfare for years to come. This fighting intensified as the Russians forced the nomadic tribes into collectivized farming

Now, Ashgabat. This city is the focal point of Turkmenbashi’s nation building program. There are bananas every 100m or so. I suppose they are there to keep the dirka dirkas away. But what I was mentioning before is that the best things in this city are free. There’s the Earthquake Monument, the Arch of Neutrality, Ene Mahri (Maternal Love) monument, Memorial Monument to Atamurat Niyazov (Turkmenbashi’s father), and let’s not forget the monument to Turkmenbashi’s brothers. And just because I love this name I have to mention the Magtymguly Monument (he was the greatest Turkmen poet) because he was fortunate enough to have the best name ever.

Arch of Neutrality. This tripod monument is on the North side of Turkmenbashi Square. You can take an elevator to the top for beautiful views. Photography is forbidden because of the proximity of Turkmenbashi’s Palace and Ruhyyet Palace (see pictures below). This has to rank among the best monuments in the world. Just on top of it is a GIANT (12m I think) GOLD statue of Turkmenbashi himself with outstretched arms. Wait, it gets better. The statue rotates to always face the sun. I’m in disbelief, because I imagine that it’s the sun rotating around Turkmenbashi.












The Earthquake Monument. This one is just north of the Arch of Neutrality and another classic. There is a giant bull with a giant earth on its horns. It’s shaking the earth, which is covered in rubble. But sitting atop this globe is a mother lifting a small golden child (no doubt Turkmenbashi himself and designed as a tribute to his mother who died).










Ene Mahri (Maternal Love) is classic Turkmenbashi. It is based around the love of Turkmenbashi’s mother’s love for him. The mother holds the boy in her arms on what appears to be a giant flower emanating from the pond below.

The Memorial to Atamurat Niyazov (Turkmenbashi’s father) is yet another classic. This is actually a memorial to all those who died in WWII (his father died in the war and after the earthquake he was orphaned), but you would not necessarily guess that since the memorial (like Turkmenistan) is a one-man show.











Just to clarify, I have done other things in Ashgabat besides search for the best monuments. In fact, I visited two museums: The Carpet Museum and the Museum of Fine Art. The Carpet Museum, as you might surmise, contains a vast collection of Turkmen carpets from the five different regions of the country. In fact, the styles of the regions are visible on the Turkmenistan flag. There was no photography allowed and the guard was kind enough to escort me through the entire museum…thus, neither pictures of Turkmenbashi carpets with his book Ruhnama (more on this to come in another blog, not enough room here) nor a picture of the largest carpet in the world (Guinness certified) were taken. My guard asked me if I was from Ma-cha-choo-sets and then said “John Kerry” while giving a thumbs down. Not sure if that was his personal opinion of the Senator or if he was just indicating that he lost.

Museum of Fine Art deserves a blog entry of its own. The ground floor has Turkmen artwork and the other floor is dedicated to – and I’m not making this up – “The Fine Art of the Different Folk.” The museum contains portraits of Turkmenbashi, his parents (the Carpet Museum had carpets of his parents), and my personal favorite, a portrait of Yanardag – Turkmenbashi’s horse. Some of my favorites included “With Rich Harvest Turkmenbash the Great,” “Vise Man,” and “Bravery: Hero of Turkmenistan Atamurat Niyazov.” The latter shows his father as a war-wary soldier in German captivity. There was a great tapestry where Turkmenbashi is standing in front of a map of Turkmenistan, which itself is in front of the Turkmen flag. Priceless. I’ll have to post some of these photos on snapfish, too many for the strategery101.

One interesting note on the paintings at the museum. There are many depicting Turkmen in Soviet uniforms coming from/going to battle and some are of V-Day celebrations. But what struck me was some of the paintings from the 1980s. There was one in particular of an amputee in uniform being greeted upon entering the market. The Bolsheviks used Muslim soldiers from the Caucuses to subdue Central Asia after the revolution and the strategy worked. Thinking along the same line the Soviets used Central Asian Muslim soldiers for its war in Afghanistan and not only did the strategy fail, but with devastating consequences within the Stan communities and this painting depicted that.

I think that this is more than enough for one blog entry. The next one will have some thoughts on the cultural aspects of Turkmenistan and oh so much more. I'm leaving in about an hour for Merv, my first stop on the Silk Road (but will pass back once more through Ashgabat).

Here's the picture of (me and) the presidential palace from the arch of neutrality.








Dinabashi