Niyazov, Saparmurat Ataevich

1940-2006

Niyazov was born in Ashgabat. His father was killed during World War II, and the rest of his near relatives were killed in an earthquake in 1948. He was then raised in an orphanage and later with distant relatives.

He was educated in St. Petersburg and joined the Communist Party in 1962, rising through the political establishment to become president of the Turkmen SSR (part of the former USSR) in 1990. When Turkmenistan became independent in 1991 he retained his post, and was reelected in 1992 with 99.5% of the votes. Under the constitution he has extraordinary powers of censorship, to appoint the state prosecutor, appoint and remove all judges, and economic control. In a 1994 referendum his powers were confirmed and his term of office was extended to 2002.

References

Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia, 1993-97
Who's Who in Russia and the New States, edited by Leonard Geron and Alex Pravda. (London: I.B. Tauris & Co., 1993)
ICCA. "The President of Turkmenistan." [Includes portrait]. Available at: http://www.icctm.org/president.html