No praise please, says Turkmen president

Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov, who has built a vast personality cult, today asked government officials to stop praising him.

“I have a request: don’t praise me. I even feel uncomfortable appearing at various meetings and events,” Niyazov told a Cabinet meeting.

A new bronze and stone monument depicting Niyazov taking an oath as president was unveiled today in the capital Ashgabat to mark 12 years since his inauguration as the nation’s leader.

Niyazov has made himself the central element of independent Turkmen national culture with dozens of billboards and monuments to him adorning virtually every street corner.

His golden statue in Ashgabat’s main square rotates to always face the sun.