Turkmenistan's ‘President-for-life' Saparmurat Niyazov died on Wednesday night. State television said Niyazov's passed away on Thursday, of cardiac arrest. He was 66.
Niyazov, who called himself ‘Turkmenbashi the Great' (Head of the Turkmen) ruled the Central Asian state, the second largest natural gas producer in the former Soviet Union, since 1985.
The Turkmenistan embassy in Ankara confirmed the news saying that the embassy had first received the news via television.
Niyazov underwent major heart surgery in 1997. The late president's health had been a top secret in Turkmenistan until recently when Niyazov announced he had heart disease.
Niyazov, born in 1940, was orphaned at an early age. His father died fighting against Nazi Germany in World War II. His other family members were killed in the massive earthquake that leveled Ashgabat in 1948.
He grew up in a Soviet orphanage before being taken into the home of a distant relative.
In 1962, Niyazov joined the Communist Party where he quickly rose through the ranks, becoming head of the Communist Party of the Turkmen Soviet Republic.
In 1991, after the Soviet Union broke up and his republic gained independence, he was elected President of Turkmenistan.
Niyazov, as leader of the Turkmen Soviet Republic, supported the coup against Mikhail Gorbachev in 1991 and retained control of the country after the fall of the Soviet Union.
He was the first and, until now, the only president of Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan was, under Niyazov, a very authoritarian state with no opposition and no independent media. The question of succession remains open and unclear. Source: Zaman
Publication time: 21 December 2006, 17:13
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