Declaring himself Leader of the Turkmen, Niyazov began what he called Turkmenistan's “Golden Age”. Subsidies on gas, water and petrol went some way to placating the population (in 2005 petrol cost 2c a liter), but as his city of white marble rose from the desert, funding for education was slashed and a third of all pensions were cut. (© Amos Chapple)
|