World's Craziest Dictators
Published on 10/12/2007
Saparmurat "Turkmenbashi" Niyazov (Turkmenistan):
Renamed a month after him; banned recorded music, video games and
beards!
In 1991, after the fall of Communism and the USSR, Turkmenistan found
itself independent for the first time in a hundred years. The new
the Communist Party's puppet governor since 1985. But easing a country
of five million people into a new era of self-sufficiency and autonomy
was not the highest item on Niyazov's agenda. He was more concerned
that decades of Soviet control had left Turkmenistan with no national
identity. So, in 1993, Niyazov took it upon himself to create the
country in a new image: his own.
# First, he took the name Turkmenbashi (Leader of All Ethnic Turkmen)
and declared himself President for Life. Since then, he's undertaken
Turkmenistan a very unique place: The airport in the capital city of
Asgabat was renamed... Turkmenbashi.
# The New president also renamed the months. January is now called...
Turkmenbashi. April is called Gurbansoltan edzhe, after his mother.
(Bread, once called chorek, is now also called gurbansoltan edzhe.)
# In April 2004 he ordered the building of a giant ice palace in the
Asia. It would also include a zoo with penguins.
# The name of the large port city Krasnovodsk was changed to...
Turkmenbashi.
# Dozens of streets and schools across the country are now called...
Turkmenbashi.
# In 1998 a 670-pound meteorite landed in Turkmenistan. Scientist
named it... Turkmenbashi.
# The image of Turkmenbashi's face is used as the logo of all three
state-run TV stations, and is legally required to appear on every
clock and watch face as well as on every bottle of Turkmenbashi brand
vodka.
# In April 2001, ballet and opera were banned after Niyazov felt they
were "unnecessary ... not a part of Turkmen culture".
# In 2004 it was forbidden for young men to grow long hair or beards.
# In March 2004, 15,000 public health workers were dismissed including
nurses, midwives, school health visitors and orderlies and replaced
with military conscripts.
# In April 2004 the youth of Turkmenistan were encouraged to chew on
bones to preserve their teeth rather than be fitted with gold tooth
caps or gold teeth.
# In 2004 all licensed drivers were required to pass a "morality
test".
# In 2004 it was prohibited for news readers to wear make-up
# In February 2005 all hospitals outside Asgabat were ordered shut,
with the reasoning that the sick should come to the capital for
treatment. All rural libraries were ordered closed as well, citing
ordinary Turkmen do not read books.
# In November 2005 physicians were ordered to swear an oath to the
President, replacing the Hippocratic Oath.
# In December 2005 video games were banned as being too violent for
young Turkmen to play.
# In January 2006 one-third of the country's elderly had their
pensions discontinued, while another 200,000 had theirs reduced.
Pensions received during the prior two years were ordered paid back to
the state. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan strongly
denied allegations that the cut in pensions resulted in the deaths of
many elderly Turkmen, accusing foreign media outlets of spreading
"deliberately perverted" information on the issue.
# In September 2006 Turkmen teachers who failed to publish praise of
the Turkmen leader would remain at a lower payscale or be sacked.
# In October 2006 Turkmenistan claimed to have set free 10,056
prisoners, including 253 foreign nationals from 11 countries on the
Night of Omnipotence. Niyazov said, "Let this humane act on the part
of the state serve strengthening truly moral values of the Turkmen
society. Let the entire world know that there has never been a place
for evil and violence on the blessed Turkmen soil."
# Car radios, lip-synching, and recorded music are all prohibited.
# Video monitors are required in all public places.
# Dogs are restricted from the capital city due to unappealing odour.
On December 21, 2006, Turkmen state television announced that
President Niyazov had died of sudden cardiac arrest.[34][35] Niyazov
had been taking medication for an unidentified cardiac condition. The
Turkmen Embassy in Moscow later confirmed this report.
Idi Amin (Uganda):
Named himself "Conqueror of the British Empire"; forced white
residents to carry him on a throne; killed two-thirds of his own army
# Two-thirds of the army's 9,000 soldiers were executed by Amin during
his first year in power. In total, he killed around 300,000 people.
# In 1972, Amin expelled the country's 40,000-80,000 Indians and
Pakistanis in the closing months of the year, reportedly after
receiving "a message from God" during a dream.
# In 1975, Amin promoted himself to field marshal and awarded himself
the Victoria Cross. The following year he declared himself president
for life.
# During 1975 he staged a publicity stunt for the world media, forcing
white residents of Kampala to carry him on a throne then kneel before
him and recite an oath of loyalty.
# In 1977, Amin declared he had beaten the British and conferred on
himself the decoration of "Conqueror of the British Empire". Radio
Uganda then read out the whole of his new title: "His Excellency
President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC,
DSO, MC, CBE."
Kim Jong Il (North Korea):
$700,000 per year on cognac; 7,000 Mercedes Benz; 20,000 movies...
while his country is starving
Kim Jong-il, current leader of North Korea, succeeded his father Kim
Il-sung, founder of North Korea, who died in 1994. When his father
died, he was not replaced as President, and received the designation
of "Eternal President", resting in the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in
central Pyongyang. The active position has been abolished in deference
to the memory of Kim Il-sung. Kim Jong-il officially took the titles
of General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of
the National Defense Commission on October 8, 1997.
Contemporary North Korean society is dominated by an elaborate
personality cult around Kim Jong-il, including a very flattering
"official" biography of the man. Many of these official claims about
Kim's life and activities are inconsistent with outside sources. Kim
Jong-il has been routinely criticized by world governments and
international NGOs for human rights abuses carried out under his rule,
as well as for North Korea's production of nuclear weapons, contrary
to previous legal, international obligations under the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty and his own commitment to make the Korean
Peninsula free of nuclear weapons. Camp 22 is North Korea's largest
concentration camp, where up to 50,000 men, women and children accused
of political "crimes" are held. Reports of gross violations of human
rights by the guards have been reported, such as murdering babies born
to inmates.
Kim's expensive taste has become a media target. In the context of
United Nations sanctions restricting the trade in luxury items to
North Korea following the country's October 2006 nuclear test, Reuters
coverage noted that "No one enjoys luxury goods more than paramount
leader Kim Jong-il, who boasts the country's finest wine cellar with
space for 10,000 bottles. Kim has a penchant for fine food such as
lobster, caviar and the most expensive cuts of sushi that he has flown
in to him from Japan." His annual purchases of Hennessy cognac
reportedly total to $700,000, while the average North Korean earns the
rough estimate equivalent of $900 per year. Like his father, Kim has a
profound fear of flying, and has always traveled by private armored
train for state visits to Russia and China. The BBC reported that
Konstantin Pulikovsky, a Russian emissary who traveled with Kim across
Russia by train, told reporters that Kim had live lobsters air-lifted
to the train every day which he ate with silver chopsticks -
historically used in the Chinese Imperial Palace in the belief that
they would detect poison.[33][1] Kim is said to be a fan of luxury
cars and has been known for racing his cars at his palaces. Also Kim
had spent $20,000,000 on importing 200 new Mercedes Benz S500 luxury
sedans adding to North Korea's stock pile of 7,000 Mercedes. He is
also said to be a fan of Cadillacs, Volkswagens, Toyotas, and Audis.
Kim is said to be a huge film buff, owning a collection of more than
20,000 video tapes.
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