Ashgabat, a white utopia, or just a nightmare?

When a dictator wants to impress the world, what should he do? Why not build a white marble city, and paint all cars white? That is basically what happened when Saparmyrat Atajevitsj Nyýazow took power when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Later, he also changed his name to Türkmenbaşy («The leder og the Turkmenians»). When he took power, he was a white- or grey-haired man, and his portrait was printed and distributed throughout the country. However, when he began building the white city, he dyed his hair black, so the old pictures had to be replaced. In this post, I will tell some of the peculiar ideas this man had.

The whitest city in the world

When the country started making money, they also needed to show it off (they have oil). So the president decided to build a whole capital in white Italian marble. Another story is that he also wanted all cars to be white or silver. So when this was decided, and people weren’t quick enough to get a new car, one night, all the different-coloured vehicles were towed in and spray-painted white. And they had to pay a high fine to get their car back.

Not a crowded city

Driving a white or silver car applies only to the capital, Ashgabat, so out in the countryside, they can have any colour. Because of that, they have to park their car outside the city if they want to visit. And I have to say, the car park was of very high quality, with new, flashy cars in the capital. The city is full of wide boulevards, which are almost empty. The houses should never exceed twelve floors, but it is said that several blocks are empty of tenants because there are not enough people to move in, and they are too expensive.

It is a little tricky to see how the Ferris wheel works from the outside, and it is also difficult to see what the big fuss is about. When inside, it is difficult to get any good views of the city, but that was maybe the intention? The main thing is that it is the wolds largest indoor Ferris wheel.

The Ruhmana

The Ruhnama, translated into English as the Book of Spirit, was written by Türkmenbaşy. The book is a thorough discussion of Turkmen history, religion, culture, etc. It was intended to serve as a tool of state propaganda, emphasising the basis of the Turkmen nation. The book had such great importance, so it was a central subject in schools, and you were even tested on it when taking your driving test. It was placed next to the Quran in the mosques. It was also said that if you read the whole book three times, you were guaranteed entrance to heaven. In the city, they have a large “statue” of the book. As long as the president lived, every night at the same time, the book opened, and people gathered to experience it. When the president died, the book lost its importance, and the “statue” broke down, unable to open.

Taking liberties

Towards the end of his life, Türkmenbaşy wanted to build a large mosque to secure his legacy. He built the enormous Türkmenbaşy Ruhy Mosque. It is far from the city centre, and when we were there, four people came for prayer. One fun detail here is that in mosques around the world, the inscriptions should be in Arabic. Maybe, in fear that his people would not understand, Türkmenbaşy had a tribute written about himself in Turkmen. This fact should have deeply angered Iranian clerics.

A lot to take in

The whole experience of this extraordinary city was almost out of this world. All the whiteness gave you a feeling of being in an institution. And so few people around. We had a charming guide who kept a straight face most of the time as she told some of these stories. I sometimes said to her, ‘This does not make sense,’ and I could see she smiled and carried on being convincing. It is almost unbelievable what some men in power manage to make up of stories and fantasies, to stay in control. But, this has been the world’s destiny for thousands of years; it is just so amazing that this story is only about thirty-five years old.

What we actually saw most of in the very clean streets of Ashgabat were many women with brooms, cleaning rubbish and leaves from the trees.