Opera in Turkmenistan
January 22, 2008
Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov, the self-styled Turkmenbashi ("Head of all Turkmens"), ruled Turkmenistan from October 27, 1990 until his death on December 21, 2006. During his reign Niyazov changed the names for months and days, closed libraries, and designed a national theme park. He also banned the ballet, circus, and opera in 2001. Thankfully, a few days ago, President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has rescinded the ban, at least for the circus and opera.