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Reflections on the Ruhnama
A blog examining the Ruhnama of the late President of Turkmenistan, Saparmyrat Turkmenbashy the Great, and the application of the book\\\'s principles in daily living.
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One year ago today...
2007-12-21 13:20:22
As we mark the 1-year anniversary of Saparmyrat Turkmenbashy's passing, let us always cherish his hope for the future."I see my accomplishments and effortson the faces of my people."- Turkmenbashy ...
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Daily Ruhnama readings on Turkmen TV
2007-12-16 23:15:59
During Turkmenbashy's presidency local television would broacast daily readings from Ruhnama.The following images were taken from a 90-second video clip of Turkmen TV. The first 30-seconds consisted of promoting Ruhnama (top photo); this was followed by an image of the book being opened and the "illuminating wisdom" shining forth (center photo); the remaining time depicted the book at the top of the screen while a procession of images of Turkmen historical figures and cultural symbols moved across the screen. I do not know if Turkmen TV continues these Ruhnama broadcasts under the new president's leadership. ...
Ruhnama
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Archive: Weekly Quote for 07-DEC-2007
2007-12-13 16:31:13
Please use the link "Wisdom of Ruhnama" in the right column to access the current quote for this week. Last week's quote appears below.Weekly QuoteFriday, December 7, 2007Dear Citizens! In a short time, we have established our excellent stable state and taken the first step in our progress. The second step lies in our mind, heart and blood. We shall establish this great transformation with this book entitled Ruhnama. We have sacred territories that will open the eyes of those who became blind from weeping for their lost lands. We have wonderful songs that open deaf ears. We have beautiful smelling springs that make silence burst into song. We are the owners of these beautiful lands. Without looking to the opportunities and sources at their hands, Turkmens did not hesitate to go to war, and fighting head-to-head, they won or lost their battles. If this territory falls into danger, we have courageous young men who put their lives into danger, like Gorogly, to fight! We have old people li ...
Archive
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Truly neutral, the United Nations HQ should be in Ashgabat
2007-12-13 01:18:02
OK, I'm going out on a limb in proposing something which has little or no chance of succeeding, but it makes sense to relocate the United Nations headquarters from New York to Ashgabat. The United States is clearly (to me at least) an unsuitable location for the UN -- American politics and partiality prevent the world organization from realizing its full potention as long as it is located in the U.S.Those who have studied Turkmenistan's recent history, and its UN-bestowed recognition as the world's only "offically neutral" state, will grasp Turkmenbashy's vision of a world of prosperity and peace -- a vision that is being carried forward today by the new president, Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov. Turkmenistan, the center of Ruhnama's universe, should be the international venue for this important organization.I congratulate the UN's decision to build its new Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy in Central Asia in Ashgabat.The following article appeared in the Turkmen press today. I have ...
Ashgabat
Nations
Neutral
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The moral and spiritual responsibilities of a Head of State
2007-12-07 23:19:08
As I monitor U.S. and world news I make it a point to observe presidents and heads of state to see what their "duties" consist of. I never used to do this until I read the Ruhnama but it has been an interesting experience for me. What I see are leaders (some powerful, some less powerful) engaging in diplomacy, making speeches, dealing with their respective parliaments (or congresses), signing or nullifying laws, threatening other nations - or defending their own against external aggression, etc.One thing is certain, however, and that is that very few of these leaders seem concerned with the moral and spiritual growth of the state's citizens. (Clearly there are exceptions to this: the Pope as Vatican head of state, some Muslim rulers who also administer religious duties, etc) but, for the most part, "things of the spirit" are not high up on national leaders' agendas.Turkmenbashy was an exception. He understood that the long-term advancement of a society is dependent upon honest and resp ...
Spiritual
State
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Archive: Weekly Quote for 30-NOV-2007
2007-12-06 17:21:14
Please use the link "Wisdom of Ruhnama" in the right column to access the current quote for this week. Last week's quote appears below.Weekly QuoteFriday, November 30, 2007Time is equal for all humanity. Nowadays everything has a value, but we can't buy time, we spend time unaware of what God has given. Some go fishing to spend their time, others play chess. Some play cards, others watch movies. The period of youth is especially a period when time is spent in vain! Your perspective also differs when you are young and a whole life is before you. Sixty years, eighty years, a hundred years! It seems as if our time is limitless. Youth! Who thinks of time or its worth when young? However, when you are forty or fifty and look behind you, you barely understand how all those years have passed, as if they never occurred. You look at what you have accomplished in forty or fifty years and realize that you have not accomplished much. After the age of forty, life passes so quickly that you find you ...
Archive
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Advice & Proverbs (Part VI)
2007-12-01 23:50:54
Turkmenbashy writes:You will meet a lot of obstacles on the road to success! If you fail in nine attempts out of ten, but reach your goal in the tenth, this is very natural. Giving up because of hardships is to reject your own self!If there is no hard work, there will be no satisfaction!Be hasty, have brilliant ideas, and do not worry!Have sparkling thoughts, and a clear heart and eyes!Ruhnama II, p. 350. ...
Advice
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Archive: Weekly Quote for 23-NOV-2007
2007-11-29 16:54:18
Please use the link "Wisdom of Ruhnama" in the right column to access the current quote for this week. Last week's quote appears below.Weekly QuoteFriday, November 23, 2007Mankind differs from animals through the idea of progress, that is why they call man the treasure of the world. The ideas of mankind, in light of the experiences and ideas gained from living on the world for millions of years, are the results of his wisdom. There are some who are a slave to new ideas. They act on the demands of ideas. There are also those who place their ideas under the command of their wills. They build their life the way they want to by adapting ideas to their own life. Buddha says: "Thinking is everything. The way you think is the way you are." Some days, the world may seem empty and meaningless to you, you will get frustrated. Other times, the world seems so compassionate, so beautiful that you wish you had wings to fly. In fact, the world remains the way it is. Change occurs in your thoughts. Th ...
Archive
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Day of Good Neighborliness and [Good] Harvest
2007-11-25 19:07:55
Turkmenbashy declared the last Sunday of November as a special holiday. As quoted from Turkmen TV-1 on 30-November-2003:[Presenter:] "In accordance with the special decree of the president of Turkmenistan, Saparmyrat Turkmenbashy the Great, Good Neighbourliness and Harvest Day is celebrated on the last Sunday of November each year with great festivities. This double holiday proves that our God-blessed compassionate nation is a place of goodwill, kindness to each other and wellbeing. Dear viewers, may the holidays in our independent eternally neutral motherland be blessed under the shadows of our esteemed leader Saparmyrat Turkmenbashy the Great! Happy holidays!"(Source: Turkmenistan Project)The State News Agency of Turkmenistan (TDH) reports today a message from the current president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, with regard to the celebrations:[Excerpts:] - "The holiday's root in ancient times, they reflect the people's national traditions. It is deeply symbolic that we celebrate two ho ...
Harvest
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Archive: Weekly Quote for 16-NOV-2007
2007-11-22 14:22:24
Please use the link "Wisdom of Ruhnama" in the right column to access the current quote for this week. Last week's quote appears below.Weekly QuoteFriday, November 16, 2007Look at the mountains, look at the white snowy mountains, their tips, surrounded with white clouds, are up like the soul of our old world. Look at the trees swinging in the valley! Those trees - rooted in the center of the world and waving like a green flag of nature! Look at the flowers, grass and straw, they all are bent by a breeze and they all are waving like a flag of ground. On this ground, if you do not show pure effort though you are born in this pure and beautiful territory, you cannot put yourself in line with the harmony of the world! The world is the world of movements. To survive, it needs to develop, fire has to burn to survive, and water has to pour and to move so as not to stink. No one who rests all the time can become a man. People who eat, drink and rest lazily, are not one of us! May God allow us ...
Archive
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Turkmenbashy the Visionary (Part II)
2007-11-18 03:46:34
If you missed Part I of this post, click here. Turkmenbashy writes:I have no notion of becoming haughty and slinging mud at my ancestors. Allah forbid! Besides, the era of Ruhnama is different from the era when the Oguznama epics were written, not the age of being formed by history but the age of forming history. Whatever approaches we may use there, we need to admit one thing: we ourselves are forming our history, past and future because Allah gave us mind and will. This superior nature is not a gift but a debt.Ruhnama I, p. 66.I believe that Turkmenbashy's energetic transformation of Turkmenistan -- his plans for remodeling the capital city of Ashgabat into the "white marble city" replete with fountains, parks and spiritual/cultural amenities -- was his way of "repaying" this debt to Allah.The white marble city(photo: turkmenistan.gov.tm)Turkmenbashy writes:Of course, at certain periods when Turkmens lacked complex and well-founded spiritual and philosophical methods and descr ...
Visionary
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Archive: Weekly Quote for 09-NOV-2007
2007-11-15 13:51:34
Please use the link "Wisdom of Ruhnama" in the right column to access the current quote for this week. Last week's quote appears below.Weekly QuoteFriday, November 9, 2007Man is sensitive. You can elevate one to the skies with just one word. A nice word can put wings on a person and make him fly. I have come to understand that the most beautiful, most valuable thing in the world is a beautiful word. I have come to understand that the greatest word in the world is a smiling face. Mankind is looking for riches in the earth's crust; excavates mountains, ores, diamonds, gold; searches beneath the sea for corals, pearls. Mankind has been gathering wealth, keeping treasures, and building iron safes to preserve them since it began living. It thinks that true richness is gold and ore. However, a good word is the most important richness of mankind. People hide beautiful words in the most special corners of their hearts. It is not possible to buy or sell good words. I did not write the poem "Say ...
Archive
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Turkmenbashy the Visionary (Part I)
2007-11-11 19:51:55
These next few blogs will be somewhat disorganized as I have progressed to a part in Book One where there is a lot of information contained in a few pages -- so I offer my random thoughts. Please feel free to send me an email (there's a mailslot icon in the right column) to discuss this further or to share alternate interpretations.Turkmenbashy was motivated to write the Ruhnama, in part, because he believed that he was a "visionary" who was able to foresee the future. Turkmenbashy writes:I have been witnessing the heart of my nation growing into its own beauty. I agree with the principle that, "Beauty, primarily, must be within the heart of the people". I am honoured by the current successes.Secondly, turning back to our early comparison between "Oguznama" [a Turkmen epic written c.11th-13th centuries] and Ruhnama, we can say that Oguznama is a book which is only related to the past. In these books the future is not living either as an idea or a target or a sign. On the other h ...
Visionary
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Archive: Weekly Quote for 02-NOV-2007
2007-11-08 13:48:07
Please use the link "Wisdom of Ruhnama" in the right column to access the current quote for this week. Last week's quote appears below.Weekly QuoteFriday, November 2, 2007My honourable citizens, this is my request to you: "Be humble but with honour like the snowy mountains! "Be as wise as your grandfathers and as merciful as your mothers!" There is no greater miracle than mankind in the world; his level is the level of Allah's pulpit. Allah makes the way easy for those of good will; those of bad will receive nothing but enmity. Your body is created of clay, but your soul is given by Allah. Though your body is here on earth, may the abode of your heart be high! Ruhnama, Book I p. 187.(English hardcover edition) ...
Archive
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Advice & Proverbs (Part V)
2007-11-05 16:59:55
Turkmenbashy writes:Don't spare your sweet words and material assistance from your sister!Ruhnama II, p. 149.The message is that we should not put on a false façade in public, flattering and generously giving to others, while simultaneously neglecting our family and loved ones. ...
Advice
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The Golden Age - Maturity for the Turkmen spirit
2007-11-03 20:12:45
National independence ushered in the 5th or Golden Age of the Turkmen people.Turkmenbashy writes:The 5th Golden Age of the National Turkmen spirit starts on 27 October 1991.In fact Allah the Almighty decreed an interesting fate for our nation. The Turkmen spirit rises at the beginning of each millennium. This was the same for the beginning of the third millennium. Allah the Almighty granted the return of historical creative inspiration to the Turkmen. This is the age of maturity for the Turkmen spirit.Ruhnama I, p. 287.The Golden Age is, however, not intended to herald an enlightened state at the expense of the past. One of Turkmenbashy's goals in writing the Ruhnama was to set forth the many achievements of the Turkmen people throughout history while recognizing that these past eras and personalities played an important role in arriving at the threshold of the Golden Age.In a speech delivered to the Turkmen people on 14 December 1992 Turkmenbashy said:Esteemed compatriots! I would lik ...
Maturity
Spirit
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Archive: Weekly Quote for 26-OCT-2007
2007-11-01 12:47:04
Please use the link "Wisdom of Ruhnama" in the right column to access the current quote for this week. Last week's quote appears below.Weekly QuoteFriday, October 26, 2007Friendship is the spiritual rose of human life. A friend means the one who shares the burden of life equally with us. Wherever there is friendship, there will be no burden. Friendship is like one heart in two separate bodies. Friendship is a source of happiness and the reason for this is the existence of someone that you fully trust. The fortune which never cheated on me is friendship. The most important feature of friendship is realizing the wants of your friend. This is the token of unification with your friend. I don't know anything better than friendship, which inspires and helps people. In the Golden Age, I would like to underline two thoughts which have more and more insight: first, love -- and second, friendship. The intention attached to love and the meaning of love have changed today. Love and friendship are ...
Archive
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Independence Day
2007-10-27 11:59:47
Photo: turkmenistan.gov.tmToday, October 27, is the 16th anniversary of Turkmenistan's independence. It is a day of great importance to the Turkmen people and also to those of us who have become acquainted with the nation and its citizens through reading the Ruhnama.Turkmenbashy writes:Our independence and neutrality illuminate our Golden century and are illuminated by our national values. Reviving with Ruhnama, God willing, we can alter our future in the Golden Age. In the Golden century, in the 21st century, our main aim is to build a Turkmen nation which can be a model for the entire world. With our independence, which lets us now cut our own cloth to fit, and our neutrality which spreads the sign of peace in the world, our nation will also prove itself a model in human relations by displaying its affluent spirit.May our people and state live in security under our tranquil sky.Ruhnama I, p. 238.It was Turkmenistan's independence that allowed Turkmenbashy to begin reshaping his natio ...
Independence
Independence Day
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Archive: Weekly Quote for 19-OCT-2007
2007-10-25 18:49:53
Please use the link "Wisdom of Ruhnama" in the right column to access the current quote for this week. Last week's quote appears below.Weekly QuoteFriday, October 19, 2007The farmer cultivates, sows, fertilizes, and waters. The white wheat fields run like the sea. When the harvest comes, he stacks his blend like a mountain, reaps the produce and seeks Haydar Baba's blessing. From the stack that is like a mountain, only a hill of winnowed grain is left behind! That is the meaning of life! Someday, we have to reap our produce. The greater your produce, the greater your credibility and your trustworthiness becomes. God has created the universe, the whole world, the sons of Adam, the crown of all the creatures, from His love, His mercy, His light and His soul. The sons of Adam love, swim in the sea of compassion, purify, and mature in this world and go back to God. My dear son! My dear daughter! Love, be loved, and lead a great life! Life is love. You live in a world where there is love. I ...
Archive
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Turkmenistan and the United Nations
2007-10-24 14:41:16
Today is United Nations Day (Oct. 24) and it seems fitting to reiterate Turkmenbashy's committment to the lofty and peaceful goals of that organization.Turkmenbashy writes:By a unanimous vote of 185 states, on 12 December 1995 the Central Assembly of the United Nations gave our state the status of Permanent Neutrality. Thus, for the first time in history, the neutrality of a state was legalized and we became officially the only neutral state in the world. We put the olive bough, which is the symbol of peace in the United Nations' flag, on our green flag.To recognize the humanitarian ideas and particular qualities that make us a nation, and to bring these values to light as an example for us and our descendants is very important. I have thought a lot on this subject and I have always shared my ideas with my people. Finally, I have reached this conclusion: there must be a book that integrates the most valuable characteristics, the spirit of the Turkmens on earth. That is to say, the Turk ...
Nations
Turkmenistan
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Archive: Weekly Quote for 12-OCT-2007
2007-10-18 13:46:45
Please use the link "Wisdom of Ruhnama" in the right column to access the current quote for this week. Last week's quote appears below.Weekly QuoteFriday, October 12, 2007How beautiful has God created the world that we live in. If our inner world is not as beautiful, pure, clean, and worth loving as our outer world, our soul does not develop and remains immature. The food of the soul is love! The wing of the soul is love! Our ancestors have believed that "when a man loves his sacred country more than himself, knows the value of his people; when his country is in danger, he saddles his horse and dies on the field of battle, and he will directly go to heaven." The souls of lovers that fly like pigeons, from a period of youth onwards, are the most mature souls. For their bodies are under the spell of their souls and their bodies will be flying in the sky with their souls. Our soul is our essence!Ruhnama, Book II p. 218.(English hardcover edition, 2004) ...
Archive
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Advice & Proverbs (Part IV)
2007-10-17 01:09:56
Our successful interaction with the people around us depends largely on ourselves.Turkmenbashy writes:If you don't have a brother, the blame is not yours. If you don't have a friend, the blame is not Allah's.Behave in such a way that even strangers become close to you.Ruhnama I, p. 292. ...
Advice
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Is the West misleading the public about Turkmenistan?
2007-10-16 01:26:08
I was just checking the newswires and I see that RFE/RL (Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty) in Prague is carrying a report, dated today, which reads in part:Reader Comments Removed From Turkmen Government WebsiteOctober 15, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- The Turkmen government's official website, Altyn Asyr (The Golden Age), has removed a feature that allows comments to be posted by readers.On October 12 -- just two days after initiating the new feature -- it vanished from the Turkmen, Russian, and English versions of the website.There was no explanation on the website about the removal of the responses by readers. Some 15 comments had been posted to the site before the feature disappeared.The Turkmenistan government's English language website continues to operate normally. Comments continue to appear (including my comment from September 7 congratulating the Turkmen people on the anniversary of the Ruhnama's publication) and the website feature has been in place for months -- not two days as indicat ...
Misleading
Turkmenistan
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A blueprint for The Golden Age
2007-10-12 18:29:26
The Ruhnama has often been described as a book which blends history, philosophy and spirituality. This is only partially correct because the Ruhnama is much more than this -- it is also a guide to effective government, good citizenship, moral conduct, national identity, religion and education.Ruhnama is the blue-print for The Golden Age -- an era of peace, prosperity and enlightenment. Beginning with the transformation of Turkmenistan, The Golden Age is envisioned to spread throughout the world as other nations see what man can achieve with a united effort based upon spiritual principles, righteous conduct and love for our fellowman.Turkmenbashy writes:If Allah wills it, the generations who drink deeply from the clean water of the spring of philosophy of the Ruhnama may grow into beautiful, moral people.Life trains people and history trains the character.The Ruhnama is a book opening the spring of the mind and meeting the thirst of the dry intellect.Ruhnama I, p. 64.Note that Turkmenba ...
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Archive: Weekly Quote for 28-SEP-2007
2007-10-11 15:58:14
Please use the link "Wisdom of Ruhnama" in the right column to access the current quote for this week. Last week's quote appears below.Weekly QuoteFriday, September 28, 2007The Turkmens before us continued to read and learn new sciences even though they had reached the highest levels in the sciences. They lived with the accumulated knowledge that had passed from generation to generation and passed it on to the current generation. They thought that the learning of the sciences would end if they made any break in this endeavour. Today's Turkmens, you will be seen as scientists if you keep reading. If you lose your learning, then you will become illiterates. Every citizen of Turkmenistan should have a knowledge of science. This would be the result of brave souls, poetic perceptions, sensitive heart, and spiritual richness. When one reads, new ideas and anxieties emerge in the mind. Thus, to read and to learn is to appreciate Allah Almighty. Intellectuals and scientists have a special plac ...
Archive
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Archive: Weekly Quote for 5-OCT-2007
2007-10-11 15:55:50
Please use the link "Wisdom of Ruhnama" in the right column to access the current quote for this week. Last week's quote appears below.Weekly QuoteFriday, October 5, 2007In societal relations, the ethical values advised in the Quran and their strength will improve Turkmens' characteristics and make them more powerful in this Golden Age of Turkmens. Turkmens will be civilized, clean, attractive, and more useful individuals. Turkmens, without distinction, should not deceive, should not lie, should be honest, and should not be jealous. Good morals and honesty are the characteristics which suit the Turkmen best. The Turkmens who have these qualities should be the citizens of the 21st century. May Allah give us strength and patience on this road. The never ending spiritual source for a true Turkmen, who continuously ponders on his spiritual world, who really worries about his well-being, who is self-conscious, alert and careful about enhancing his intellectual, physical and spiritual capaci ...
Archive
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Heaven on earth
2007-10-05 17:29:37
"If God Almighty should give me enough time, I will at least create a heaven out of Turkmenistan."- TurkmenbashyRef: Ruhnama Book II, p. 244Photo: turkmenistan.gov.tm ...
Earth
Heaven
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NEWS: President Berdymukhamedov visits Columbia University
2007-09-28 18:52:26
Turkmenistan's president, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, delivered a policy speech and video presentation at Columbia University (New York) on September 24 in which he reaffirmed his committment to Ruhnama.As reported on Eurasianet, the president said that the Ruhnama's teachings would remain an integral part of Turkmenistan's school curriculum, and that familiarity with the book's contents was an essential requirement for government service.The president described Saparmyrat Niyazov (Turkmenbashy the Great) as "an integral part of who we are, our history and culture," and identified the Ruhnama as "a critical text" which would continue to be a "mandatory read in all educational institutions -- from kindergarten through college. Why? Because it contains a lot of wisdom related to our heritage." ...
News
President
University
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NEWS: (Full text) President Berdymukhamedov's addresses at Columbia University and the UN.
2007-09-28 18:48:09
I retrieved the full texts of President Burdymukhamedov's recent addresses at Columbia University and the United Nations as posted on Turkmenistan's government website. While neither speech specifically mentions Ruhnama by name (Eurasianet reports that the president's reaffirmation of Ruhnama while at Columbia University was in response to a question afterwards) both addresses are very good. The content reflects the successes achieved in Turkmenistan in the years since independence under the guiding hand of Saparmyrat Niyazov (Turkmenbashy the Great) and continuing under his successor, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov. President Berdymukhamedov's speech at Columbia University24 September 2007President Berdymukhamedov's speech before the U.N. General Assembly26 September 2007These links open a new browser window and you can return to this page by closing the window. Both reports are additionally linked to my newsblog, Pine River World News.I extend my thanks and appreciation to Tur ...
News
President
University
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Archive: Weekly Quote for 21-SEP-2007
2007-09-27 16:12:41
Please use the link "Wisdom of Ruhnama" in the right column to access the current quote for this week. Last week's quote appears below.Weekly QuoteFriday, September 21, 2007I have written this book, Ruhnama, for you. I dedicate and present the book I have written to you today. My Dear Turkmen Nation! You are the meaning of my life and source of my strength. I wish you a healthy and long life. Our Turkmen ancestors were courageous people and they began to educate their children before they came to life. The Turkmen child reached maturity and bravery, and then has a national education and worldview. For that reason, bodily health, intellectual stability, and integrity, and good manners were the special characteristics of the Turkmen. In our times, the Turkmen should take care of his eating and drinking to preserve his health and endurance. He should not eat greedily. In order to keep his health, strength and productivity, the Turkmen should remember Allah Almighty's order: "Eat and drink ...
Archive
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