The Weirdest Dictator in Modern History

From 1985 to 2006, the nation of Turkmenistan was run by the weirdest dictator in modern history. Saparmurat Niyazov, also known by his self-imposed title Turkmenbashy, built a culture centered around himself when he became the first president of post-Soviet Turkmenistan. It only descended into further absurdity as his reign continued. From banning beards to forcing everyone to study his autobiography, Turkmenbashy created one of the strangest dictatorships in modern history. Join me as we take a look at the laws and customs which made Niyazov's presidency so bizarre.

[aboyaser]

You missed the walk of health, a 22 mile long path the president mandated every employee to walk annually.
He will personally see his ministers start walking, then go in a helicopter and wait for them at the finish line.

[kevinwolnik]

you should seriously make a sequel, considering the fact that berdimuhamedov tends to be an even weirder dictator than his predecessor. I mean he actually made a goddamn rap song about turkmenistan that was broadcasted on tv and constantly performs stunts like shooting guns at targets while riding a bike, which just seems like a straight parody of „the dictator“ at this point.

[manzanasrojas]

When you cant grow a beard and now everyone else has to suffer

[maratym]

One point should be understood is that he did not rename all these things after himself. The bureaucracy did it - each government official who wanted his career to grow, came up with the initiative - let’s rename something after the president. Then he would be appointed to a higher position

[grahamnancledra]

Behind his back they called him jokingly Super Mario. Another fact. The local bank notes featured his portrait, something even Stalin didn't do, but the portrait of Niazov showed him with grey hair. He decided to dye his hair black to make him look younger. So he went around with black hair whilst on all the bank notes in daily use his hair was grey (white), something else that was joked about by the citizenry of Turnmanistan, behind the dictators back.

[mericet]

Been there. We were on a ferry from Baku, Azerbaijan to Turkmenbashi in 2010. The trouble is, the President was visiting the city at the time, so the ferry was not allowed to dock until he left. Apparently he found the sight of foreigners to be offensive. Any foreigners who were already in Turkmanbashi had to stay in their hotel rooms with the curtains closed.

[frctv]

This is gold. Do another one on Idi Amin of Uganda, that dude was also nuts.

[CaptainObvious]

imagine being ruled by someone who is 5 years old mentally and being unable to do anything against it.

[DipakBose-bqvv]

Peter the Great of Russia also banned beards, Meiji Emperor of Japan banned Samurai dress and hair style.

[tonyclifton]

visited turkmenistan in 2014. wonderful people. hearty food. not much booze but you'd expect that in a technically muslim country. terrible roads. some impressive architecture in ashgabat

[ImGazu]

This dude definitely gave influence to Sacha Baron Cohen's movie The Dictator

[MaxVerstappen]

Bro is literally the real life Aladeen

[mole]

As the biggest Sacha Baron Cohen fan I know, I can say this makes The Dictator seem totally normal now. I rarely laugh out loud, and this got me multiple times. Great comedic storytelling btw!

[LovelyQuran]

People were like "finally we have our independence after USSR". Then this guy appears...

[marniusvanderlubbe]

that guy really loves horses in a weird way

[Alkebuland]

Its funny until you realize the repressive manner this ridiculousness was enforced.

[Torgo]

"If I can't grow a beard, then no man can." -- Saparmurat Niyazov, probably

[LennoxTC]

Very well made video, I like the pacing and the way you present the information with visuals.

[MartianGopnik]

I like how deliciously succinct and free of dramatism this video is. Looking at the sidebar full of titles like "Turkmenistan: the North Korea of Central Asia, " it would seem that you are the only person to figure out that all the crazy shit this guy did is enough to attract attention to the video, even without any sensationalism.

[Serenity_Dude_X]

I'm surprised that after his death he did not command that his country should also die like him. Because, you know, what he did not like or what happened to him, he also wanted to apply to his people.