Zugl.: Eichstätt, Ingolstadt, Univ., Diss., 2008

Turkmenistan President Saparmurat Niyazov (known as Turkmenbashy, or “father of Turkmens”), the longest-serving leader in post-Soviet space, has ruled his country with increasing repression and megalomaniacal idiosyncrasy over the past decade. Under Niyazov’s rule, alternative political parties have been banned, non-official religions persecuted, and free media outlets closed. State institutions, subsumed by the expansive presidency, are characterized by constant personnel purges and an arbitrary management style, and have become increasingly dysfunctional. Grandiose marble state buildings, large museums and golden presidential statues dominate Ashgabat, Turkmenistan’s capital. Socioeconomic indicators, however, are at low levels, and poverty and unemployment have reached new highs. Niyazov has formulated, transmitted and imposed a new Turkmen national program as a method of political legitimation. This “pseudo-ideology” has been elaborated since independence in a series of texts published under the president’s name—Niyazov’s quasi-spiritual works are required reading throughout all levels of education in Turkmenistan and are heavily propagated through official mass media and cultural associations. This thesis seeks to understand the forms that the legitimation program has taken, Niyazov’s methods of propagation, and the ways in which the regime’s program resembles those of similar historical regimes. Turkmenistan, which appears to closely approximate the ideal type of a sultanistic regime (as defined by Juan Linz), is described in this thesis with reference to cases of sultanistic leadership from the post-colonial period in sub-Saharan Africa. This thesis examines in turn Niyazov’s use of official ritual and symbolism, media and education, historical revision, and architecture to secure normative compliance. Historical references help to contextualize a discussion of Turkmenistan, an often-overlooked country in post-Soviet Central Asia, but one that promises to grow in strategic importance due to its geopolitical location and bounty of natural resources.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wyoming, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on July 21, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 107-118).

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Tübingen, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references and sources (p. 229-236).

Cotton has been grown in central Asia for over 2,000 years, and is a major crop in Turkmenistan, where medium staple G. hirsutum is the dominant species, cultivated on 80%of the cotton growing area. Many of the cultivars used in Turkmenistan until the time of independence from Russia were from Uzbekistan. Since independence, the original suite of long staple G. barbadense and medium staple Uzbek cultivars has been considerably changed in Turkmenistan by selection for early maturity and productivity. Cotton yields in Turkmenistan have been declining since independence and were below 2t/ha in 2001 when the TACIS ‘Support to the Cotton Sector Project’ commenced, of which research reported in this thesis was a part. The main factors determining seed cotton yields in this country are quantity of irrigation water applied, nitrogen fertilization, deep ploughing, and plant population. Of these four important factors, plant density is the only one that individual farmers can control, as the others are either state controlled or require equipment held collectively. The aim of the research described in this thesis was to improve cotton production in Turkmenistan through optimising plant population. The use of optimum plant populations in the cotton fields of Turkmenistan has a substantial potential for economic benefit to the farmers of that country. Changing plant populations would require none of the structural changes involved in changing the other important yield factors. Quantity of irrigation water applied is controlled by the state; nitrogen fertilizer is a state controlled input in Turkmenistan and deep ploughing depends on equipment communally held and sometimes unavailable. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) (Agriculture)

This thesis analyzes the official propaganda campaign carried out under the rule of President Saparmurat (Niyazov) Turkmenbashi in Turkmenistan. Following a brief overview of the historical evolution of the state, society and culture in Turkmenistan to provide a better understanding of the social and historical context in which propaganda was pursued / the main objectives and themes of the propaganda campaign are discussed. Besides other means of propaganda, Rukhnama, the spirit-book of Turkmen written by Turkmenbashi, and women are examined in greater detail as case studies of basic means of propaganda. The thesis finally discusses the outcomes of the propaganda campaign together with a glance at the changes and continuities displayed in policies of Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, the successor of Turkmenbashi.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center; full text release delayed at author's request until 2010 Dec 1

No description available.

Originally presented as the author's Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oxford, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 181-186).

Originally presented as the author's Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oxford, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 181-186).