Wednesday, May 22, 2013


Turkmenistan

Turkmen President Urges Youth To Read 'Rukhnama'

President Niyazov (right) with children at the opening of an exhibition center in Ashgabat in 2005 (ITAR-TASS)

March 20, 2006 -- Turkmenistan's President Saparmurat Niyazov says Turkmen youth should read his book "Rukhnama" ("Spirituality") three times if they want to go straight to paradise.

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Doing so, he says, will allow the reader to "become intelligent and grasp the nature and laws of things and the worth of mankind."


Niyazov spoke last night at a ceremony marking the holidays of Norouz and Women's Day.


Questions remain about whether Niyazov actually wrote the two-volume "Rukhnama" himself. In Turkmenistan, it's advertised as a second Koran and has been translated into 30 languages.


(ITAR-TASS)

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