Ashgabat: A Marble Oasis in the Turkmen Desert
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The grandiose desert city of Ashgabat, capital of Turkmenistan, is a dreamscape in white marble, an oasis of opulence on a terrain where little seems to grow except ambition and immaculate high-rises.
A golden statue of former Turkmen leader Saparmurat Niyazov, the self-appointed Father of the Turkmen, stands atop Ashgabat's Arch of Neutrality.
An ex-Soviet apparatchik, Niyazov ruled Turkmenistan from 1985 until his death in 2006 — a period during which the month January, a planet, a crater on the Moon, a horse breed, and a myriad of streets were named after him.
Read the full story: Ashgabat: White Marble Oasis Under a Rule of Steel
A golden statue of former Turkmen leader Saparmurat Niyazov, the self-appointed Father of the Turkmen, stands atop Ashgabat's Arch of Neutrality.
An ex-Soviet apparatchik, Niyazov ruled Turkmenistan from 1985 until his death in 2006 — a period during which the month January, a planet, a crater on the Moon, a horse breed, and a myriad of streets were named after him.
Read the full story: Ashgabat: White Marble Oasis Under a Rule of Steel
Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber / For MT
![](https://static.themoscowtimes.com/image_archive/1360/cf/i294898_Turkmenistan_Ashgabat_002.jpg)
Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, translates as the ?€?City of Love?€? in Turkmen and Arabic.
Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber / For MT
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Portraits of Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, who took the helm following Niyazov's death in 2006, are ubiquitous in Ashgabat.
Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber / For MT
![](https://static.themoscowtimes.com/image_archive/1360/f7/i294900_Turkmenistan_Ashgabat_004.jpg)
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, a former dentist, flashes his pearly whites on nearly every front page and cover.
Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber / For MT
![](https://static.themoscowtimes.com/image_archive/1360/60/i294901_Turkmenistan_Ashgabat_005.jpg)
Turkmenistan's flag features five tribal designs known as guls. These designs represent the traditional patterns found on handwoven carpets in the country's five regions.
Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber / For MT
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The five-billion-dollar Ashgabat Olympic Complex will host the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in 2017.
Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber / For MT
![](https://static.themoscowtimes.com/image_archive/1360/33/i294903_Turkmenistan_Ashgabat_007.jpg)
Students of Turkmenistan's National Institute of Sports and Tourism warming up for a wrestling practice.
Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber / For MT
![](https://static.themoscowtimes.com/image_archive/1360/fc/i294904_Turkmenistan_Ashgabat_008.jpg)
The Turkmen capital has a penchant for all things big. The city is home to the world's largest handwoven carpet [left], the largest enclosed Ferris wheel and a 6,000-seat velodrome, the largest facility of its kind on the globe.
Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber / For MT
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In 2013, Ashgabat set a Guinness World Record for having the highest density of marble-clad buildings.
Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber / For MT
![](https://static.themoscowtimes.com/image_archive/1360/68/i294906_Turkmenistan_Ashgabat_010.jpg)
Ashgabat is sandwiched between the Kopet Dag mountain range and the Karakum Desert. In the summer, temperatures regularly rise above 30 degrees Celsius.
Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber / For MT
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Turkmenistan is the fourth largest former Soviet Union republic and the second largest Central Asian state.
Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber / For MT
![](https://static.themoscowtimes.com/image_archive/1360/18/i294908_Turkmenistan_Ashgabat_012.jpg)
Ashgabat prides itself in its gilded ornaments and intricate architectural structures.
Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber / For MT
![](https://static.themoscowtimes.com/image_archive/1360/ef/i294909_Turkmenistan_Ashgabat_013.jpg)
Turkmen students, both male and female, wear uniforms in school and at the university level. The boys' uniform consists of a black suit and tie, a white dress shirt and a takhya, a traditional embroidered skullcap.
Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber / For MT
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A majority of Turkmen women wear traditional floor-length dresses in public.
Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber / For MT
![](https://static.themoscowtimes.com/image_archive/1360/5e/i294911_Turkmenistan_Ashgabat_015.jpg)
Golden statues of the former leader are still a common sight in Ashgabat.
Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber / For MT
![](https://static.themoscowtimes.com/image_archive/1360/6e/i294912_Turkmenistan_Ashgabat_015.jpg)
Golden statues of the former leader are still a common sight in Ashgabat.
Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber / For MT