North Korea tends to grab the headlines as the world’s favorite ideological basket case, Turkmenistan offers just as much potential for lulz.
North Korea tends to grab the headlines as the world ’s favourite ideological handbasket case , but there ’s another Asian dictatorship with just as much potency for silliness .
Turkmenistan erupted from the Soviet Union in 1991 , and straightaway got taken over by one of the craziest masses in the world . Saparmurat Niyazov fare from the slums of Stalin - era Turkmenistan and claw his way to the top of the local Communist party . In 1991 , he endorse the coup attempt to subvert Gorbachev and was rewarded by the local Supreme Soviet by being appointed the president of the country at independency .
Seeking legitimacy , Niyazov “ lean ” for “ president ” in an “ election ” as the only “ prospect . ” He must have done a really good task , because in 1994 , 99.9 percent of the citizenry of Turkmenistan vote to offer his terminus by 10 years . Niyazov died in position in 2006 — two years after his condition officially ended — and impart behind a country that ’s every bit as stable and well - cerebration - out as you ’d expect .
Below is a picture about Niyazov and his sovereignty of terror over Turkmenistan :
Be sure to see our other gallery onChina pollutionandlife inside North Korea .
Here’s Niyazov, all serious-like. Source:The Washington Times
Here he is again, being less serious. Source:RFERL
Half the fun of being a dictator is posing for the gigantic golden statues. This one isn’t the most overdone.
This one isn’t the silliest either, though it is guarded day and night and forms the centerpiece of a theme park devoted to a book Niyazov “wrote” (despite being illiterate).
Here’s the book. It’s calledRunhama, which we won’t bother to translate because who cares. You have to memorize this thing if you want a driver’s license or a government job in Turkmenistan, which is almost the only kind of job in Turkmenistan. This statue is actually motorized and, at 8:00 pm every night, the cover opens and loudspeakers start blaring out a selected reading. Reliable figures cannot be found on the time of death statistics for local suicides, but we’re guessing they mostly happen between 8:10 and 8:30 pm. Source:Wikimedia
Seriously, this book is a really big deal. It is official government policy that reading this book three consecutive times earns you a place in heaven. We don’t have an opinion about that, but not reading it because it sucks is probably a pretty quick way to hell. Source:Balkanist
Speaking of hell, here’s one of Turkmenistan’s “tourist attractions.” It’s called the Door to Hell, and it’s almost the only point of interest in the village of Derweze. Soviet engineers accidentally collapsed the ground here looking for natural gas. They obviously found it, and then they decided to set it on fire for a few weeks rather than let it leach out. As of 2014, the fire has been burning for 43 years. Source:Flickr
This is the Neutrality Monument in Ashgabat. It was built in 1998 to celebrate the way Turkmenistan doesn’t usually take sides or get involved in wars. That’s good, we guess? It seems odd that “not picking sides” should occasion a $12 million building project, but at least it gave Niyazov a chance to put up another ridiculous statue of himself. Source:Central Asia Online
This is it: possibly the silliest statue in Asia. The way it was originally built, this enormous statue of Niyazov would slowly rotate to face the Sun on its path through the sky. Eventually they shut off the motor, and plans are underway to demolish the thing. Source:Wordpress
Monumental architecture really shouldn’t be cluttered up with other buildings. Readers often write in and ask: “What would Lodi, CA, look like if aliens crushed it with a giant spaceship?” Nailed it, Niyazov. Nailed it. Source:Wikipedia
There is absolutely a golden chalice within arm’s reach of this man. Source:Evil Chili
