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Turkmenistan: Thousands Pay Homage to Dead Leader

Thousands of grieving citizens, many weeping, paid there final respect by passing the coffin of President Saparmurat Niyazov, who died Thursday after 21 years of autocratic rule. Niyazov, who was 66-years-old, died of a heart attack throwing his 5-million-person-nation into political uncertainty. During Sunday, thousands of citizens passed by his coffin, which lay in the presidential palace in Turkmenistan`s capitol Asgabat. The morning multitudes carried flowers and said goodbye to the former communist leader, who called herself Turkmenbashi, "father of the Turkmen". Later on, the coffin was taken out of the palace and placed in a military vehicle, which took the deiced President 15 Km from the capitol to Kipchak, where he was born, and where he built a family mausoleum next to Asia`s largest mosque.

The people of Asgabat displayed concern regarding the country`s future, as Niyazov had ruled the country nearly alone, arrested anyone he felt was a political opponent and controlled every aspect of his people`s lives. So that it is currently uncertain, who will control the country and how. Some citizen`s of Asgabat mentioned that the mass-grieving reminded them of the death of the communist dictator Joseph Stalin, who died in 1953. Experts believe that Niyazov`s death will lead to a power struggle among the Turkmen elite.

Niyazov has been in Turkmen power since 1985, when the country was still a Soviet Republic. When the Soviet Union collapsed, he remained in power. Niyazov was criticized by the west for his seemingly weird and sometimes cruel behavior. He changed the names of thr days of the week and months of the year to his and his family member`s names, erected golden statues in his image throughout the country. His picture appears on all Turkmen currency, and the pupils in the country swear allegiance every morning at school. When asked about the personality cult Niyazov said: " I admit it, there are too many portraits, pictures and monuments. I don`t find any pleasure in it, but the people demand it because of their mentality."