The people of Turkmenistan faced their first day in 21 years without “Turkmenbashi” yesterday after a heart attack ended the rule of the eccentric dictator Saparmurat Niyazov.

The death of President Niyazov, 66, triggered a struggle for power in energy-rich Turkmenistan, which he had ruled with an iron fist since 1985. He cultivated an obsessive personality cult as Turkmenbashi, or Father of All Turkmen, when the Central Asian republic gained independence in 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union.

State television broadcast a portrait of Mr Niyazov framed by a black border as it announced that the President had died in the night.

The Government declared a week of national mourning and cancelled new year festivities as citizens struggled to come to terms with the news.

Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, the Deputy Prime Minister, was named interim President and placed in charge of arrangements for the funeral on Sunday in Kipchak, the home village of Mr Niyazov. The village houses the largest mosque in Central Asia, called Spirit of Turkmenbashi, which Mr Niyazov built at a reported cost of more than $100 million (£50 million).

The appointment of Mr Berdymukhammedov was a break with the Constitution, which requires the Speaker of parliament to hold office while elections are organised within two months. It coincided with an announcement that the Speaker, Ovezgeldy Atayev, was facing a criminal investigation.

Mr Berdymukhammedov, a 49-year-old former dentist who bears a likeness to Mr Niyazov, also took charge of the armed forces, which were put on a state of high alert.

He may face competition for the succession from Mr Niyazov’s son, Murad, a powerful figure in the gas industry, who was once rumoured to have lost $12 million in a night of gambling at a Spanish casino.

President Niyazov announced last year that he planned elections for 2009 and would present “a worthy successor” to the voters. Murad was seen then as a prime contender to become Turkmenbashi II.

Opposition politicians, who had fled the repressive regime, plan to return. The head of the exiled Republican Party said that they would form an “opposition coalition government”.

The struggle for control in the largely desert nation of five million people will be watched closely by the European Union, China, Russia and the United States because Turkmenistan has the fifth-largest gas reserves in the world.

They fear a new energy crisis if gas supplies are disrupted by political instability. Gas from Turkmenistan was key to resolving the stand-off between Ukraine and the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom last January, which had resulted in supplies to Europe being cut.

Europe relies on Russia for 25 per cent of its gas supplies. Russia, in turn, imports cheaper Turkmen gas to supply its domestic markets as well as to meet contracts to supply Ukraine at prices below those charged in Europe.

Mr Niyazov was checked by a team of medical experts, led by a German heart specialist, in October. His health was normally a state secret but he took the unusual step of acknowledging publicly that he had heart disease.

Mr Niyazov tolerated no dissent during his rule after taking power in an unopposed presidential election in 1990. International watchdogs accused him of crushing independent media, rigging elections and committing widespread human rights abuses.

Despite the vast wealth of Turkmenistan, many of its people live in poverty. Mr Niyazov sought to bolster his popularity this year by announcing that every citizen would receive free gas and power until 2030.

He spent much of the national income on grand vanity projects,including an ice palace outside the capital. He erected a giant golden statue of himself in the main square of the capital, Ashgabat, which revolved to face the sun throughout the day.

It was compulsory for children to study his book of philosophical musings, the Rukhnama (Book of the Soul).

He issued decrees banning lip-synching, car radios and the playing of recorded music at weddings. He even renamed months and days after members of his family.

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Turkmen export routes

Father knows best

He ordered the building of a zoo in a desert in Turkmenistan to host penguins among other animals

Sources: news agencies

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