Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov – crazy name, crazy guy – is Turkmenistan's president, and successor to Saparmuyat Niyazov, the eccentric "father ot the Turkmen" who built a huge golden statue of himself which revolved so that it always faced the sun, and named the days of the week after members of his family. Berdymukhamedov is keen to establish himself as his own man, repudiating the old Ozymandian-style taste for grand projects. So….he's built a new palace:
To the accompaniment of deafening traditional music and trailed by a crowd of hundreds, Turkmenistan's president inaugurated his lavish new palace in the heart of the Central Asian nation's gleaming capital Wednesday.
The $250 million complex built by French construction company Bouygues replaces the more squat golden-domed palace located a few blocks away.
The landmark appears to represent President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov's determination to expunge all signs of the personality cult dedicated to the former Soviet country's previous leader, after whom the old presidential palace was named. It may also be a display of one-upmanship in Central Asia, where presidents have seemingly tried over the years to outdo one another in the grandness of their offices.
There's a monument to go with it. In his efforts to mark a change from his predecessor's grand style, though, it's possible that Berdymukhamedov may, as reported in the Turkish Weekly, have gone too far the other way:
A monument titled "Constitution Monument" and built by a Turkish company was inaugurated in the Turkmen capital of Ashkabad on Wednesday as part of celebrations to mark the national Constitution Day and Festival of Development and National Unity.
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, several Turkmen officials, foreign diplomats and Turkish citizens were among those who attended the inauguration of the monument built by Turkey's Polimeks company.
The monument is 185 centimeters tall….
Mick Hartley 
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