From Reuters:
“Turkmenistan opens futuristic city dedicated to leader”
(People attend the opening ceremony for the new city of
Arkadag, dedicated to the country's former president Kurbanguly
Berdymukhamedov, in Arkadag, Turkmenistan June 29, 2023.)
Turkmenistan opened a new, futuristic "smart" city
on Thursday dedicated to its former president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov. The
city is named Arkadag, or protector, an unofficial title by which Turkmen media
have long referred to Berdymukhamedov, who on Thursday marked his 66th birthday
by travelling to the Muslim holy city of Mecca. A source close to the
government told Reuters the new city for 73,000 residents cost $3.3 billion to
build and there were plans to spend as much again in the next few years. All
the buildings in Arkadag are white and all apartment blocks are seven storeys
high, a number considered lucky. Only electric vehicles are allowed in the
city, which features monuments dedicated to a horse of the Turkmen Akhal Teke
breed and to Berdymukhamedov himself, and was built close to his native village
in southern Turkmenistan.
His son, President Serdar Berdymukhamedov, 41, oversaw the
opening ceremony attended by foreign officials. Some brought presents, such as
an electric car from Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. The elder
Berdymukhamedov ran the gas-rich desert nation of six million for 15 years
until 2022, becoming the centre of an elaborate personality cult where, for
example, all male civil servants followed their leader's example when deciding
whether or not to dye greying hair. He passed the leadership to his son but
retains many powers as the chairman of the People's Council.
^ The average monthly wage in Turkmenistan’s Capital of
Ashgabat is 5,230 Manats ($1,561 US Dollars.)
The average monthly wage in the rest of Turkmenistan is 1,320
Manats ($394 US Dollars.)
Of course it makes sense for the Turkmen Government to spend
$3.3 Billion US Dollars building a new city dedicated to its Former President
Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow who ruled for 15 years (by the Current President
Serdar Berdimuhamedow – his Son.)
At least he didn’t get a tie for Father’s Day.
I guess it’s part of Turkmen Tradition:
President Saparmurat Niyazov (1990-2006):
In 1993, he changed the Turkmen Alphabet from Cyrillic (which
was forced upon them by the Russians in 1928) to the Latin Alphabet rather than the traditional Arabic Alphabet
Turkmen had used before 1928 and made it illegal for anyone to use the either
Arabic Turkmen or Cyrillic Turkmen.
In the 1990s, he made several anti-Russian Language Decrees
(including the Instruction and use of the Russian Language, changing Russian
Patronymics to Turkmen ones, etc. to discriminate against the Ethnic Russians
in Turkmenistan despite his Wife Muza Melnikova being ethnically Russian and
Jewish from Leningrad (Saint Petersburg) and his 2 Children being half
Russians.
In 2002, he renamed the months of the Turkmen Year and the
days of the Turkmen week (including changing April to his Mother’s Name of
Gurbansoltan – and I thought I was a Momma’s Boy.)
He also replaced the Turkmen word for bread with his Mother’s
name (Gurbansoltan.)
In 2001, he banned the Opera, Ballet, Circuses and
Philharmonic Orchestras.
In 2004, he fired every (15,000) Turkmen Doctor, Nurse, Midwife,
Orderly and Gymnastics Instructor and replaced them with Military Conscripts.
In 2005, he closed every hospital outside of the Capital of
Ashgabat stating that the sick should go to the Capital for treatment.
He banned car radios because he considered them to be
"useless".
In 2005, he banned video games because they were "too
violent for young Turkmen".
He built a $12 Million US Dollar Gold Stature of himself in
Ashgabat and made it rotate so it always faces the sun.
He gave every Turkmen a copy of the Book he wrote (“Ruhnama”)
and made it mandatory to be tested before anything (a Driving Test, a High
School Test, a University Exam, a Medical Exam, a Government Exam, a Wedding,
etc.)
He also gave every Turkmen a watch with his portrait as the
dial (he designed) and made it illegal for them to sell or damage it.
So sadly the Turkmen People have had to deal with Corrupt and
Wasteful Dictatorships for the past 98 years: from 1925-1991 when the Soviet
Union ruled them from Moscow, from 1991-2006 when Saparmurat Niyazov ruled
them, from 2006-2022 when Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow ruled them and since 2022
when his Son Serdar Berdimuhamedow took over.
Maybe one day the Turkmen People will be free and have a
President that spends Billions of US Dollars on improving the everyday lives of
the people in this Third World Country instead of Billions on useless watches
and cities. ^
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