The Turkmen government has announced it will take down the Arch of Neutrality monument topped by a revolving golden statue of former President Saparmurat Niyazov in what is possibly the most drastic act to date in the dismantling of the late leader’s cult of personality.
The 75-meter high monument will be relocated to a site outside the capital city at an unspecified date.
“It would be fitting to place this monumental construction in the south of the city, at the start of Neutrality Road,” the government’s press office said in a statement, according to Neutralny Turkmenistan newspaper.
The arch was a symbol of the folly and megalomania of Niyazov’s, whose statue rotated permanently throughout the day to face the sun. It was designed by Turkmen artist Babasary Annamuradov and unveiled in 1998 to mark the third anniversary of Turkmenistan’s declaration of neutrality, but as with much else in the country, it was clear that the president was truly the intended subject of veneration.
Curiously, during a trip to Turkmenistan last year, this writer noted at numerous junctions that Niyazov’s statue was not always facing the sun, indicating perhaps that the significance and maintenance of the monument had already begun suffering a decline.
Announcements like these have now become customary in Turkmenistan, serving to illustrate a repeal of the pervasive personality cult left behind by Niyazov. Recent examples include the restoration of the Gregorian calendar and the withdrawal of Niyazov’s name from the country’s oath of loyalty.
Indubitably, such measures cannot but be perceived as positive developments, although they are largely meaningless. It costs absolutely nothing to remove portraits and peel away the trappings of cult, but it does reap credit with domestic and international observers. In that respect, de-Niyazovization is a worrying distraction from the real and multiple problems that plague Turkmen politics and society.
Niyazov’s statues have never and will never mean anything to anybody, and yet the application of the Ruhknama in schools continues to wreak destruction on the minds of more generations of schoolchildren. For every picture and statue taken down, will there be new ones of current President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov put in its place?
To be sure, the removal of this monument is nothing to do with making amends for past. Instead, it is all about creating a new order.
How easily could Berdymukhammedov sit in his presidential palace with his predecessor hovering above him across the square?