TURKMENISTAN - Turkmenbashi Tower.

Niyazov has a gigantic monument in the shape of the Eiffel Tower. Jutting through the skyline of Ashgabat, it bears ornate runic inscriptions, a glass elevator up the middle and, on top, a solid gold statue of Niyazov rotating 360[degrees] every 24 hours. It is called Monument to Neutrality. His arms outstretched in greeting, Niyazov begins his day facing south-east towards Afghanistan. By noon he is facing Iran. By mid-afternoon he is looking west over the Caspian Sea and towards Azerbaijan, then Georgia. At about 7 pm he faces Russia, then turns towards Kazakhstan, followed by Uzbekistan to the east and back to Afghanistan.

With his commitment to neutrality difficult to maintain in a region such as Central Asia - where the spheres of influence of Russia, Iran, Turkey and the US often collide - each day every one of Turkmenistan's neighbours has a chance to bask in Niyazov's golden embrace. Niyazov likes to play these powers against one another, as he does with the major IOCs. He tends to agree with whoever he has met last.

Turkmenbashi was the name Niyazov gave to the Caspian port town of Krasnovodsk, on the collapse of the USSR, and to the main avenue in Ashgabat. Although he banned Communism and created the Democratic Party in its place, he has since been the centre of a Stalinist personality cult. He is everywhere in Ashgabat, a city of over 500,000 people, smiling benevolently from posters and murals. He is seen with tractor, book, sword or other symbolic prop. His features adorn the nation's stamps and currency, causing a costly recall when his hair turned white after a quadruple bypass in 1999. Local brands of vodka, tea and many other products bear his portrait, which is neatly placed in the upper right-hand corner of the TV screen.

To boost his popularity Niyazov in early 1993 issued decrees giving each household a monthly gift of 50 CM of gas, 25 kilowatt hours of power and 250 litres of water, to the extent that people leave their gas stoves turned on even when they are not cooking - to economise on matches. But, at the same time, he resorted to Soviet-style tactics in dealing with opponents, having banned religious movements and violently suppressed their leaders. He underlined his regime's secular character, but maintains close links with Iran.

In 1996, Niyazov changed his image somewhat to project a more mellow figure. Old posters of a beady-eyed, Soviet-style Turkmenbashi wearing a black suit and medals have since been replaced by a more relaxed figure, sometimes reclining or in a garden, wearing a white suit. He has applied his soft voice to a single theme: attaining self-sufficiency in wheat, "for the first time fulfilling a strategic goal of strengthening the nation's food security". Economic independence, he instructed, was vital for Turkmenistan. His personal wealth is attested to by the spectacular rings he wears: a diamond solitaire on his right hand which must figure on the shortlist of the world's largest stones and, on his left hand, a giant sapphire set among diamonds.

At the cultural palace, Western diplomats on a flying visit in mid-2000 to assess progress towards democracy filed up the massive stone steps, passing 35-foot wooden doors and the inlaid gold script immortalising the leader's thoughts for his people's guidance. In the crowded auditorium, the right number of seats had been reserved for the foreign dignitaries, who found themselves being filmed by local TV as Niyazov bestowed honours on farmers and bureaucrats responsible for a "great wheat harvest".

Niyazov scarcely moved - his gestures economical, letting his rings flash in the spotlights. He remained centred above a giant round victory loaf and its triumphant label: "Year 2000 - 1.5 million tons". A diplomat who had rejoined the group after visiting foreign embassies in Ashgabat whispered: "It's complete nonsense, you know; the harvest was probably only half that figure, if that much... Haven't you read the weather reports about this summer's terrible drought in the region?"

At a sign from Turkmenbashi, the armed forces orchestra and national choir filled the hall with the pounding sounds of the national anthem. The hall roared with applause. Like the grandiose decorative programme for Ashgabat, the wheat record seemed explicable only in the context of a khan's dream of defying history.

Niyazov signs the E&P agreements. He scrutinises every deal before he signs it with a foreign oil company. He signs the deals for major downstream projects. He personally chairs a working group on various oil and gas projects and export pipelines proposed. He insists on meeting the head of every major company intending to invest in Turkmenistan. If he likes a foreign executive, he appoints him as a "presidential adviser". Some of these advisers are included in his working group.

Foreign members of this group have included Alexander Haig Jr (a former US secretary of state) and his partner Michael Ansari, both hired as presidential advisers in May 1993. Their main task was to attract capital to the country, with emphasis on US companies. The Haig-Ansari partnership was called US-CIS, suggesting they could also promote investment in other CIS states, while Niyazov wanted them to work only for Turkmenistan. In 1993, Ansari told a reporter: "The (Turkmen) government has created an entity that requires our participation with their (foreign firms') participation. So, whoever goes to the government will automatically be talking to us". However, Niyazov can easily become suspicious of foreigners (see background in Vol. 63, DT No. 14).

After the US-led the war in Afghanistan against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in late 2001, Niyazov lured lobbyists from the Bush camp to replace US have-beens in his pool of advisers. But he refused to grant the US base facilities - maintaining his "neutrality"; he opened his airspace for US humanitarian supplies to Afghanistan.

Niyazov's leadership style, though dictatorial, has ensured stability in Turkmenistan. All decisions of importance are taken by him. His aides have included investment expert Atah Chariov, whose ancestors are from the important Tekke tribe of Merv province.

In 2001 Niyazov issued a curious book called Ruhnama (which roughly translates as spiritual revival) and had it distributed everywhere. It contains 400 pages of rambling revisionist history, homely philosophy and personal musings on Turkmenistan "inspired by God". With officials comparing Ruhnama to the Qur'an, the book jumps from subject to subject, urging readers to appreciate Turkmen traditions. Through Ruhnama and his de-Sovietisation process, Niyazov has been destroying Turkmenistan's educational system. Just as in the 1990s teachers, civil servants and doctors were Turkmenised, the curriculum is being Ruhnamised. Knowledge of the Ruhnama has become the main qualification for teachers. He has cut the length of schooling to nine years, compared to 10-11 in Russia.

While in the Ruhnama Niyazov preaches the importance of education, university study has been reduced from five years to four, with two years earmarked for practical experience. Students find it difficult to go directly into higher education abroad. There is no post-graduate education.

On July 13, 2002 the FT quoted a local Russian as saying: "Within five years, no one will know anything about Russian culture. But the real tragedy is not for the Russians, who will assimilate or die. It's above all a tragedy for Turkmenistan".

There are virtually no textbooks in the schools. Niyazov banned all the Soviet-era texts, but new ones have not been produced to replace them. All that happens in school now is singing songs and reading the Ruhnama. Primary education is further undermined by using students to harvest and plant cotton - after gas and oil the country's top export. The number of places in colleges and universities has been cut to 3,000 a year, less than half what it was in Soviet times.

Niyazov has switched from Cyrillic to the Latin script, in line with Turkey's. But to work in Turkmenistan, foreign firm still have to rely on the Russian language. Few local contacts speak English. (About 10% of Turkmenistan's population of around 6.3m are ethnic Russians, mostly living in Ashgabat and small urban centres. The majority of Turkmen work as farm labourers, herd camels and weave carpets in the countryside).

Niyazov's mercurial behaviour with IOCs over the past 14 years has ruined Turkmenistan's reputation as a place to invest. So foreign capital for much-needed industry is not forthcoming.

Niyazov, who is also the prime minister, has the habit of suddenly firing aides or ministers. In late July 2000 Niyazov abruptly fired his long-serving foreign minister, Boris Shikhmuradov who favoured a pro-West policy.

Shikhmuradov was implicated in a plot to assassinate Niyazov and take over power. The attack on Niyazov occurred on Nov. 25, 2002, while Niyazov was driving through Turkmenbashi Avenue. He was not hurt. Later, the authorities arrested 16 suspects.

In December 2002, the Uzbek Ambassador to Ashgabat, Abdurashid Kadyrov, was expelled on the charge that he aided the plotters and harboured Shikhmuradov in his residence and then helped him flee the country. Since then, relations with Uzbekistan have been tense. In 2004 the head of one of the country's two oil refineries was accused of smuggling petroleum products to Uzbekistan.

Niyazov says no project of regional or international importance in Turkmenistan and other CIS countries would materialise if this is opposed by Moscow. He is always careful not to seriously antagonise the Russians. But he has turned down various joint CIS projects proposed to reflect Russia's dominant position, such as a "rouble zone" and a "common market".

In line with his "permanent neutrality", Niyazov has struck a balance in relations with Turkey and Iran. These rivals always seek influence in Central Asia and have become Ashgabat's main trading partners outside the CIS. He has maintained a balance in relations with the US and Russia.

Niyazov first visited Washington in 1993 and had talks with the IMF and World Bank on project finance. He told them Turkmenistan had vast potentials - "Wherever we drill we find gas" - and that in economic terms Turkmenistan was better off than its Central Asian neighbours because of its low profile within the CIS. He managed to get the World Bank to help Ashgabat in working out an energy programme, with firms from the OECD invited to invest in modernising and developing this sector.

Niyazov told US officials and company executives his country's oil output should rise to 1.6m b/d by 2030, with IOCs to be involved. Gas production was to rise to 180 BCM/year by 2005 and to reach 630 BCM by 2030. But he scaled down these targets considerably in the subsequent years. During a visit to Washington on April 23, 1998, Niyazov and then US Vice President Al Gore signed an accord whereby the US was to grant $750,000 to fund a study for oil and gas pipelines to be built under the Caspian to the West, to bypass both Iran and Russia.

To make up for a sad childhood, Niyazov always tries to get the people to love him. A rock video by Gulam Kadyrov, the country's most popular singer, airs nightly on TV, featuring footage of Niyazov working hard, signing protocols and shaking hands with world leaders. He has an opulent life-style and several palaces. One of them, built by Bouygues under a contract signed during late French President Mitterrand's visit to Ashgabat in April 1994, cost nearly $85m (see Vol. 63, DT 14).