President wants to re-name January after himself

The President of Turkmenistan wants to re-name the month of January after himself.

It will be called Turkmenbashi, Saparmurat Niyazov's official title, which means Head of all the Turkmen.

He asked a meeting of the People's Council consultative body to agree to the change. It has already given him the presidency for life.

Other months will be named after his late mother, a poet and a book the president wrote.

The president of the former Soviet state has already had cities, airports and a meteorite named after him.

The country currently uses the 12-month international calendar with the months' names translated directly into Turkmen.