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Independence Park,
Ashgabat

Personal travel impressions in stories and pictures from Independence Park, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Click on the pictures to enlarge, send as a free e-card, or download for personal use. You can locate Independence Park and navigate the world using Google Earth

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N 37° 53.184
E 58° 22.987

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Independence Park

Picture of Independence Park (Turkmenistan): Modern apartment blocks near Independence ParkWhile we wanted to visit the huge, pyramidal Altyn Asyr shopping centre, claimed to be the largest fountain in the world, the paths leading there were all blocked, and much of the park was off limits and hidden behind fences. Perhaps the vision of growing pine trees in this desert climate, which cost a lot of precious water, in order to "change the climate", had been abandoned? Fact is that we walked south from here, towards the other great monument in Independence Park: Independence Monument - also known as The Plumber because of its shape. We walked along Saparmurat Turkmenbashy Shayoly avenue until we almost reached the end, where we could enter the park again. While Independence Monument towered high above us in a distance, our attention was at once drawn to a larger-than-life statue of Niyazov - in gold, obviously. Two guards were standing next to him, and the words of our guide not to take any pictures of Him ringing in our ears, we tried to heed her advice. At the same time, it seemed strange that there be so much reverence to the old president, which could however not be photographed. So, we sneaked some pictures of the statue before we walked up to the main platform. Since Niyazov was very occupied with establishing a Turkmen national identity, everything was done to foment and stimulate this nationalism. One of the main points of his Ruhnama book is, in fact, that after four previous Golden Ages, Turkmenistan has entered yet another Golden Age, or Altyn Asyr, under the leadership of none but Turkmenbashy himself. So it was, that we found statues of famous Turkmen leaders, poets, and legendary figures all around the Independence Monument. The monument itself, another example of what you can do with white materials and lots of gold, actually measures an auspicious 118 metres, referring to the date of independence: 27 October 1991 (add 27 and 91 and you have the height of the obelisk-like monument!). Apart from this reference to the independence and the statues of the famous Turkmens, to make sure that people get the nationalistic purpose of the park, the square is surrounded by scores of flagpoles with the Turkmen flag. The monument itself, just to show how the Great Leader was not impressed by the desert climate in which Ashgabat lies, is another showcase of how you can put water to show off. It seems like an enormous water theme park, with fountains, ponds, waterfalls coming down the monument... Leaving this impressive example of nationalism and personality cult, we met a group of friendly Turkmen girls who were celebrating a birthday and invited us over for cake. All dressed up in the beautiful Turkmen dresses, two of them then went on to give a private performance of a Turkmen dance in the park. The contrast with the pompous monuments could not have been bigger, and once again, I felt bad for not being able to really talk to them and hear how they felt about it all. On the way back, I finally managed to shoot the golden statue of Niyazov with his coat flying behind him - with a beating heart. But the soldiers either did not see me, or did not mind.

Visited: May 2010

More pictures of Independence Park:

See pictures of and read about Independence Park Turkmenistan

See pictures of and read about Independence Park Turkmenistan

See pictures of and read about Independence Park Turkmenistan

See pictures of and read about Independence Park Turkmenistan

See pictures of and read about Independence Park Turkmenistan

See pictures of and read about Independence Park Turkmenistan

See pictures of and read about Independence Park Turkmenistan

See pictures of and read about Independence Park Turkmenistan

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Ashgabat Asia blue brown clouds fountain green grey Independence Park monument park pink trees Turkmenistan white gold modern square tower building bus street asian face man statue black sky columns detail water