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Turkmenistan. The president wrote a book. Officials are forced to buy it

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Officials and other employees of the budget sector in Turkmenistan are forced to buy another book by President Serdar Berdimukhamedov, who continues the writing tradition of his father Gurbanguly, from whom he inherited the position. Radio Swoboda informs that in the opinion of “lucky people” who read the book, the work has no literary or artistic value.

Serdar Berdimukhamedov is the third president of Turkmenistan and, like his predecessors, he tries to be remembered by the nation as an author of books. The latest work is dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the poet and philosopher Mahtumkuli, a classic of Turkmen literature.

In the opinion of the “lucky” people who read the book, the work has no literary or artistic value. – There is no philosophy or scientific information in the book. It contains only photos and a description of international events that took place in the capital last year, which was called the Treasury of Mahtumkuli's Wisdom, with the forced participation of budget employees, said a teacher from the city of Balkanabat in western Turkmenistan in an interview with Radio Svoboda.

The portal also informs that employees of budgetary institutions are forced to participate in presentations and to purchase the president's latest work. Last year, the media reported on similar promotions by the authorities – when officials were forced to buy watches with images of President Serdar Berdimukhamedov and his father Gurbanguly.

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Serdar BerdimuhamedowVincent Thian/PAP/EPA

The writing talent of Turkmen leaders

The latter, who in 2022 after 16 years of rule handed over power in the country to his son and now heads the People's Council, was on Wednesday publicly called the “Father of the Nation” in parliament for the first time.

So far, his title was a bit more modest – Arkadag, which in Turkmen means “patron”, “protector”. Berdimukhamedov senior is a more prolific writer than his son, as he has published about 60 books so far, including the several-volume work “Medicinal Plants of Turkmenistan” and “Turkmenistan – a country of healthy and spiritual people.”

Literature is not the only field of art that the former president bestows on his people – he also records songs and appears in music videos with his grandchildren and his favorite horse.

Ashgabat, the capital of TurkmenistanShutterstock

Citizens forced to know the “Book of the Soul”

The tradition of writing books was started by the first president of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Niyazov, called Turkmenbasha (Father of the Turkmen), who ruled the country from its founding in 1991 until his death in 2006. He wrote several political and ideological books, the most famous of which is “Ruchnama” – “The Book of the Soul”.

During Niyazov's lifetime and a few years after his death, knowledge of the book was required of all citizens – the driving test began with knowledge of the book, and only after proving knowledge of it could one take the theoretical part of the actual exam. During Niyazov's lifetime, this work received a monument in the center of Ashgabat, placed on a rotating pedestal.

“Ruchnama” was, in the author's intention, a “moral constitution of the Turkmens” and, in addition to orders and prohibitions concerning everyday life, contained a number of interesting claims, such as the fact that the Turkmens invented the wheel and then the cart, which greatly contributed to the development of world trade, and their ancestors contributed led to the founding of about 70 countries in Asia and Europe.

Niyazov publicly claimed that reading his work three times guarantees a place in paradise. The book was translated into many languages ​​- at the end of his life, obtaining permission to conduct business in Turkmenistan was conditional, among others, on: financing the translation of the work into the language of the country from which the company that sought this consent came from. There are, among others: inept translation of the book into Polish.

The cult of Niyazov and his works was abolished after he took over by Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov, introducing the cult of himself. All Turkmenistan's leaders, apart from the passion for creating great works, have in common the rule in a dictatorial way, which does not allow for the existence of any opposition – Turkmenistan is still one of the most oppressive countries.

Main photo source: Vincent Thian/PAP/EPA



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