Saparmurat

Saparmurat is a given name, most notably associated with Saparmurat Niyazov, the first President of Turkmenistan. Born in 1940, Niyazov rose to power in the post-Soviet era, leading Turkmenistan from its independence in 1991 until his death in 2006. During his tenure, he implemented a cult of personality, renaming places and creating national holidays in his honor. His rule was characterized by authoritarianism and a significant personality cult, which included the construction of numerous monuments and the widespread display of his portrait. He initiated projects such as the Neutrality Arch and the Golden Age monument in Ashgabat. His policies focused on developing Turkmenistan's natural gas reserves and maintaining a neutral foreign policy. Following his death, his successor, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, gradually began to dismantle some of the more extreme aspects of Niyazov's personality cult. The name Saparmurat itself is of Turkic origin.