Ruhnama

The Ruhnama ( pers: " Book of the Soul ") is a book which had allegedly written the former Turkmen state and head of government Saparmurat Niyazov himself. It was the central work in the repressive apparatus of the dictatorship and officially compulsory reading for the people. It was released in the fall of 2001 and is a blending of history, rules of conduct and praises the " Holy Scriptures ". The contents are taught in schools of Turkmenistan and serve the cult of personality around Niyazov. A second volume of Ruhnama was published in autumn 2004.

The Ruhnama was until the end of 2006 in all schools required reading and the teaching contained had to make up ¼ of teaching. Civil servants had to read this book on every Saturday. Even for the license and during exams in schools and universities knowledge is necessary to view the contents.

As part of his personality cult was Niyazov 2004, a copy of the Ruhnama carry into space. There they should, wrapped in the national flag, forever circling around the earth. The mounted at the advanced level on a Dnepr rocket package with the space part number 2005 - 031C is expected to burn up in the year 2132 in the Earth's atmosphere.

The Ruhnama has been translated into 40 languages ​​- Daimler Chrysler in 2003 had provided the German translation of the first part, the second part came from Siemens. The construction company Bouygues led the French translation, which Çalık Holding the translation into Turkish, and English. The translations helped the company to contracts in Turkmenistan.

Movies

• Arto Halonen: Ruhnama - In the shadow of the holy book (OT: Shadow of the Holy Book). 2007