dublinka

The dictatorial president of energy rich Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Niyazovhas, has authored four poetry books in recent years. The latest "Turkmenistan - bagtym menin" ("Turkmenistan - the land of my fortune") was launched in Turkmens parliament this month. Conviently the state news agency TDH gave it a positive review:

"The book's distinctive feature is that the most part of the book is made of lyric on the perpetual topic of love in the very broad sense of its meaning. For love is the foundation of our world. Without love and its all-triumphant force a man is comparable to a bird without wings who is deprived of the ability to comprehend life to the full, the president believes. In the new book, the president has again demonstrated virtuoso fluency of mother tongue, reaching, at the same time, unsurpassed figurativeness and expressiveness. Beautiful poems, songs and philosophical quatrains - rubai - created according to the best traditions of oriental poetry have undoubtedly enriched the genre palette of the book."

Five new theaters have also opened in Turkmenistan featuring plays based on poetry. He has also commissioned a book shaped building (see picture). Given that he has turned the country into a kitsch shrine to himself, it's most likely one of his own books.

Some of his previous verse (to his military leadership) includes:

Be vigilant and be cautious, that is my request to you
Even when you and your country are facing luck
And you are as mighty as King Solomon
And when you feel yourself strong
Be aware, for there are many traitors with traps to set

All this would be comic, if it wasn't for the fact that he's an exceedingly nasty piece of work. Turkmenistan is today an absolute dictatorship, with detention camps, torture and harsh prison conditions including deliberate starvation.

But even less funny is the foreign companies flocking to translate his work.

The Finnish electricity concern Ensto published it for its employees.Irish firm Emerol translated him into Lithuanian. DaimlerChysler translated him as did the salesrep for an Italian water company and the Hungarian company Turbo Team. The Russian company Gazprom have also been up to it. See here for details.

I'm hoping when it all ends, the Turkmen people, can take these companies and their directors to court. There is past precedent: action was taken against IBM for its role in the holocaust. But clearly more companies need to be brought to task before the lesson sinks into the corporate mindset.