Turkmen Melon Day
August 13, 2006
Turkmenistan celebrates Melon Day to honour their National fruit. For this occasion a new type melon has been named after dictator Saparmurat Niyazov. The new melon gets the name Turkmenbashi. This simply means “father of all people from Turkmenistan”. Turkmen Melon Day is one of the many sick national holidays (Moquette Day, Day of the Horse), which the Turkmen people have been celebrating in their country for 15 years since it became a “so called” Republic in 1991. The former Soviet leader, Saparmurat Niyazov, remains in power to this day. Politics of Turkmenistan take place under a totalitarian dictatorship. Niyazov retains absolute control over the country and opposition is not tolerated. There are portraits of him all over the county and he even has a golden statue in Asjchabat which rotates with the sun.
