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Saparmurat Niyazov

Saparmurat Niyazov
Personal data
Date of birth19 February 1940
Place of birthGypjak, Turkmen SSR, Soviet Union
Date of death21 December 2006(age 66)
Place of deathAshgabat, Turkmenistan
Political partyCommunist Party of Turkmenistan (1962-1991)
Democratic Party of Turkmenistan (1991-2006)
SpouseMuza Sokolova
 
ProfessionElectrical Engineer
ReligionSunni Islam
1st President of Turkmenistan
In office2 November 1990 - 21 December 2006
Succeeded byGurbanguly Berdimuhamedow
First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Turkmen SSR
In office1985 - 1991
Succeeded byPost abolished
Preceded byMuhammetnazar Gapurow

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Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov; (19 February 1940 - 21 December 2006), (Russian: Сапармурат Атаевич Ниязов) (Turkmen: Saparmyrat Ataýewiç Nyýazow) was a Turkmen politician who served as President (later President for Life) of Turkmenistan from 2 November 1990 until his death in 2006. He was First Secretary of the Turkmen Communist Party from 1985 until 1991 and continued to lead Turkmenistan for 15 years after independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. His name in English is a romanization of the Russian spelling Сапармурат Атаевич Ниязов of his Turkmen name.

Turkmen media referred to him using the title "His Excellency Saparmurat Türkmenbaşy, President of Turkmenistan and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers" . His self-given title Türkmenbaşy, or Turkmenbashi (pronounced -trtyɾkmenbaʃɯ), meaning Leader of Turkmens, referred to his position as the founder and president of the Association of Turkmens of the World.

Foreign media criticized him as one of the world's most totalitarian and repressive dictators, highlighting his reputation of imposing his personal eccentricities upon the country, which extended to renaming months, which had been borrowed Russian words, after members of his family. Global Witness, a London-based human rights organization, reported that money under Niyazov's control and held overseas may be in excess of US$3 billion, of which between $1.8-$2.6 billion was supposedly situated in the Foreign Exchange Reserve Fund at Deutsche Bank in Germany.


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