TURKMEN NATIONALISM TODAY: POLITICAL AND INTELLECTUAL MYTHOLOGEMES
Abstract
The newly independent states in Central Asia were not the only regional result of the Soviet Union’s disintegration in the early 1990s.1 It also led to a boost in nationalisms in the Central Asian countries, which have become a significant political force and are especially active in language, culture, and the academic sphere. The collapse of the common state changed the status of the local nationalisms, infused them with much more vigor, and led to their institutionalization. It can even be surmised that the independent Central Asian states appeared not only because the Soviet Union disappeared and left a vacuum, but also because the mounting national and nationalist movements were accumulating popular dissatisfaction with the Center. This made nationalism one of the major factors in the emergence of the independent states in Central Asia.
Tajik, Turkmen, and Uzbek nationalisms functioned in authoritarian states with prominent colonial political legacies. These two factors largely affected the development of regional nationalisms. The region’s post-Soviet nature was manifested by the continuity between the Soviet and new national forms of political authoritarianism. The nationalist movements in the Tajik, Uzbek and Turkmen Soviet Socialist republics played an important role in undermining and finally destroying the Soviet system. As distinct from Central Europe, they never helped the nations to move away from authoritarianism to democracy. In Soviet times, political discussions in the Central Asian republics were launched and channeled by political elites totally dependent on the republican communist parties. Independence also shifted this role to the politicians closely connected with the Soviet and party leaders. Saparmurat Niyazov’s dictatorship in Turkmenistan turned out to be the most unique phenomenon among the post-Soviet authoritarian regimes in Central Asia.2
Downloads
References
For more on the political processes of the 1990s in Central Asia, see: W.O. Beeman, “Formirovanie natsio-nal’noy identichnosti v usloviakh mul’tikul’turalizma. Na primere Tadjikistana,” available at [http://www.politstudies.
u/N2004fulltext/2000/2/12.htm]; F. Tolipov, “Demokratizm,natsionalizm i regionalism v stranakh Tsentral’noy Azii,”available at [http://www.ca-c.org/journal/cac-10-2000/
tolipov.shtml].
For more on the specific features of the political processes in Turkmenistan, see: N. Saparov, “Ob osoben-nostiakh turkmenskoy ‘modeli demokratii,’” available at [http://www.ca-c.org/journal/cac-08-2000/26.saparov.html].
S. Niyazov, “Turkmeny, Turkmenistan, mir: tysia-cheletia i XXI vek, sviaz’ vremen i tsivilizatsiy,” An article written to the U.N. Millennium Assembly, available at [http://niyazov.sitecity.ru/ltext_0409164936.phtml?p_ident=ltext_0409164936.p_1710163846].
S. Niyazov, “Khochesh byt’ velikim, popytaisia osmyslit’ velichie Rodiny!” Speech of the First President of Turk-menistan Saparmurat Niyazov at the 3rd Congress of the Makhtumkuli Youth Organization, available at [http://niyazov.
itecity.ru/ltext_0409164936.phtml?p_ident=ltext_0409164936.p_2607104011].
See: V. Comerford, “Natsional’naia identichnost’ i istoricheskaia nauka v Irlandii,” in: Rossia-Irlandia: kollektivnaia pamiat’. Materialy konferentsii 11-12 noiabria 2005 goda, Moscow, M. Rudomino Russian State Library of Foreign Lit-erature, ed. by E.Iu. Genieva and J. Harman, Rossiyskaia politicheskaia entsiklopedia, Moscow, 2007, p. 162.
N. Saparov, op. cit.
S. Niyazov, “Neytralitet—velichayshee dostizhenie nashego naroda,” From the Address of Saparmurat Niyazov to the Compatriots on the Occasion of the 10th Anniversary of Turkmenistan’s Permanent Neutrality, available at [http://
iyazov.sitecity.ru/ltext_0409164936.phtml?p_ident=ltext_0409164936.p_1812123037].
O. Gundogdyev, “Razmyshlenia turkmenskogo istorika o glubinnykh korniakh neytraliteta,” available at [http://
iyazov.sitecity.ru/ltext_0608085523.phtml?p_ident=ltext_0608085523.p_0608090415].
N. Saparov, op. cit.
“Vystuplenie Prezidenta Turkmenistana Saparmurata Niyazova na otkrytii Turkmenskogo natsional’nogo tsentra kul’turnogo nasledia ‘Miras,’” 12 February, 2004, available at [http://niyazov.sitecity.ru/ltext_0409164936.phtml?p_ident=ltext_0409164936.p_2702070824].
J. Friedman, “Myth, History, and Political Identity,” Cultural Anthropology, Vol. VII, 1992, p. 194.
See: V. Comerford, op. cit., p. 168.
S. Niyazov, “Neytralitet—velichayshee dostizhenie nashego naroda.”
S. Niyazov, “Do 2020 goda vybory v turkmenskiy Mejlis ne budut prokhodit’ po partiynym spiskam,” Speech of
President of Turkmenistan Saparmurat Niyazov at the First Session of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan of the Third Convoca-tion, 1 February 2005, available at [http://niyazov.sitecity.ru/ltext_0409164936.phtml?p_ident=ltext_0409164936.p_602102301].
“Vystuplenie Prezidenta Turkmenistana Saparmurata Niyazova na sovmestnom zasedanii XIV Gosudarstvennogo Soveta stareyshin Turkmenistana, Khalk Maslakhaty i Obshchenatsional’nogo dvizhenia ‘Galkynysh,’” 14-15 August, 2003,available at [http://niyazov.sitecity.ru/ltext_0409164936.phtml?p_ident=ltext_0409164936.p_0509083101].
Ibidem.
S. Niyazov, “Strategicheskoe partnerstvo vo imia idealov mira i gumanizma,” available at [http://niyazov.sitecity.ru/ text_0409164936.phtml?p_ident=ltext_0409164936.p_2508120239].
See: O. Gundogdyev, “Drevnie traditsii demokratii Turkmen,” available at [http://turkmenhistory.blogspot.com/005/11/blog-post.html].
S. Niyazov, “Do 2020 goda vybory v turkmenskiy Mejlis ne budut prokhodit’ po partiynym spiskam.”
“Otryvki iz vystuplenia Prezidenta Turkmenistana Saparmurata Niyazova na X sovmestnom zasedanii Gosudarst-vennogo Soveta stareyshin Turkmenistana, Khalk Maslakhaty i Obshchenatsional’nogo dvizhenia ‘Galkynysh,’” 18 Feb-ruary, 2001, available at [http://niyazov.sitecity.ru/ltext_0409164936.phtml?p_ident=ltext_0409164936.p_1810090215].
See: C. Calhoun, Nationalism, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 1997.
“Vystuplenie Prezidenta Turkmenistana Saparmurata Niyazova na sovmestnom zasedanii XIV Gosudarstvennogo Soveta stareyshin Turkmenistana, Khalk Maslakhaty i Obshchenatsional’nogo dvizhenia ‘Galkynysh,’” 14-15 August, 2003.
“Neytralitet Turkmenistana: istoria, mirovozzrenie i gosudarstvennaia strategia,” Speech of Saparmurat Niyazov in Front of Turkmen Students, 1 December, 2000, available at [http://niyazov.sitecity.ru/ltext_0409164936.phtml?p_dent=ltext_0409164936.p_2707094526].
S. Niyazov, “Nekotorye mysli, kotorye mne zakhotelos’ vyskazat’ o strukture nezavisimogo neytral’nogo Turk-menskogo gosudarstva,” available at [http://niyazov.sitecity.ru/ltext_0409164936.phtml?p_ident=ltext_0409164936.p_2308 080510].
Z.S. Kogut, “History as a Battlefield. The Russian-Ukrainian Relations and Historical Consciousness in Ukraine Today,” in: The Roots of Identity. Studies of New and Recent History of Ukraine, Kiev, 2004, pp. 219, 231 (in Ukrainian).
S. Niyazov, “Neytralitet—velichayshee dostizhenie nashego naroda.”
“Vystuplenie Prezidenta Turkmenistana Saparmurata Niyazova na otkrytii Turkmenskogo natsional’nogo tsentra kul’turnogo nasledia ‘Miras,’” 12 February, 2004.
S. Niyazov, “Sokhranenie kul’turnogo nasledia: istoricheskiy dolg i gosudarstvennaia neobkhodimost’,” available at [http://niyazov.sitecity.ru/ltext_0409164936.phtml?p_ident=ltext_0409164936.p_1810090732].
“Otryvki iz vystuplenia Prezidenta Turkmenistana Saparmurata Niyazova na X sovmestnom zasedanii Gosudarst-vennogo Soveta stareyshin Turkmenistana, Khalk Maslakhaty i Obshchenatsional’nogo dvizhenia ‘Galkynysh,’” 18 Feb-ruary, 2001.
See: O. Gundogdyev, “Razmyshlenia turkmenskogo istorika o glubinnykh korniakh neytraliteta.”
A.D. Smith, Myths and Memories of the Nation, Oxford University Press, 2002, p. 29.
See: O. Gundogdyev, “Turkmenistan i Egipet: sviaz’ narodov,” available at [http://turkmenhistory.blogspot.com/005/05/blog-post_12.html].
See: O. Gundogdyev, “‘Besstrashny lev,’ sultan Beybars,” available at [http://turkmenhistory.blogspot.com/2005/
/blog-post.html].
Ya. Gritsak, “Ukrainskaia istoriografia. 1991-2001. Desiatiletie peremen,” Ab Imperio, No. 2, 2003, p. 444.
O. Gundogdyev, “Turkmenskiy sled v drevnerusskoy toponimike,” available at [http://turkmenhistory.narod.ru/und-toponomy.html].
V. Shnirelman, “Simvolicheskoe proshloe. Bor’ba za predkov v Tsentral’noy Azii,” available at [http://magazines.uss.ru/nz/2009/4/sh8-pr.html].
A. Cusco, V. Taki, “‘Kto my?’ Istoricheskiy vybor: rumynskaia natsia ili moldavskaia gosudarstvennost’,” Ab Im-perio, No. 1, 2003, p. 485.
See: O. Gundogdyev, “Turkmeno-kitayskie sviazi: vzgliad skvoz’ tysiacheletia,” available at [http://turkmenhistory.
logspot.com/2006/05/blog-post.html].
D. Usmanova, “Sozdavaia natsional’nuiu istoriu tatar: istoriograficheskie i intellektual’nye debaty na rubezhe vekov,” Ab Imperio, No. 3, 2003, p. 337.
See: O. Gundogdyev, “Turkmenistan i Egipet: sviaz’ narodov.”
V.A. Shnirelman, Voyny pamiati. Mify, indentichnost’ i politika v Zakavkazie, Moscow, 2003, p. 18.
O. Gundogdyev, “Razmyshlenia turkmenskogo istorika o glubinnykh korniakh neytraliteta.”
“Neytralitet Turkmenistana,” Speech of Saparmurat Niyazov in Front of Turkmen Students, 1 December, 2000.
“Otryvki iz vystuplenia Prezidenta Turkmenistana Saparmurata Niyazova na X sovmestnom zasedanii Gosudarst-vennogo Soveta stareyshin Turkmenistana, Khalk Maslakhaty i Obshchenatsional’nogo dvizhenia ‘Galkynysh,’” 18 Feb-ruary, 2001.
S. Niyazov, “Nekotorye mysli, kotorye mne zakhotelos’ vyskazat’ o strukture nezavisimogo neytral’nogo Turk-menskogo gosudarstva.”
S. Niyazov, “Strategicheskoe partnerstvo vo imia idealov mira i gumanizma,” available at [http://niyazov.sitecity.ru/
text_0409164936.phtml?p_ident=ltext_0409164936.p_2508120239]
S. Niyazov, “Nekotorye mysli, kotorye mne zakhotelos’ vyskazat’ o strukture nezavisimogo neytral’nogo Turk-menskogo gosudarstva.”
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2010 AUTHOR
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
