And the man who runs it is Saparmurat Niyazov. He's known by his citizens, and by decree, as "Serdar Turkmenbashi" - which means "Great Leader of all Turkmen." Correspondent Bob Simon reports.

During his 16-year presidency, Niyazov — who named himself Turkmenbashi, or “Great Leader of All Turkmen” — enacted policies ranging from the enchantingly bizarre to the horrendously ...

He was 66 and had heart disease. "Turkmenbashi the Great has died," said a news presenter on state television, using Mr. Niyazov's adopted moniker, which means "Leader of All Ethnic Turkmens." ...

about the cult of personality surrounding Turkmenistan's president, Turkmenbashi the Great. She says his ubiquitous presence is reminiscent of the Soviet era.

The late Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov (who liked to be known as Turkmenbashi, or "Leader of the Turkmen") is remembered for an authoritarian style and eccentric personality cult embodied ...

The self-declared Turkmenbashi, or father of the Turkmen, ruled the energy-rich but impoverished country according to his very peculiar peccadillos, outlawing a host of products and practices that ...

Frank Baum’s Oz. Not long after the Soviet collapse, in 1991, a former Communist Party hack named Saparmurat Niyazov became President-for-life, dubbed himself Turkmenbashi—Leader of All the ...

AFP reports that Asghabat residents saw Turkmenbashi's gilded visage being lifted onto its new perch -- the 95-meter-high "Monument of Neutrality" -- on October 31. The move comes as part of a ...

Ever since Turkmenistan’s eccentric despot Saparmurat “Turkmenbashi” Niyazov died in late 2006, his eccentric, despotic successor has been busy refocusing Niyazov’s pagan-like personality cult on ...

thought life in the Soviet Union was so very good. Collecting on Turkmenbashi’s pledges, 1998 Turkmenistan was now an independent nation, and I arrived in Ashgabat as ambassador in November.

The Turkmenbashi complex of oil refineries has announced a tender to purchase an auto trailer equipped with a mobile energy-dependent complex for cleaning oil and oil products storage facilities ...