To face the sun

As a child, I used to read the Tintin comic books with their tales of intrepid adventures in exotic lands. My visit to Turkmenistan last year, as a representative of the Party of the European Socialists, made me think of a Tintin book that had yet to be written.

The capital, Ashgabat, was the product of one man's fantasy - to be enjoyed and admired, or hated. But the money that made it possible came from the revenues of the world's fifth largest reserves of natural gas. That wealth, combined with the political concentration of power, may make us hear more about Turkmenistan as the scramble for the world's energy reserves becomes more earnest.

Until late 2006, the country was dominated by President Saparmurat Niyazov, who had renamed himself Turkmenbashi, or Father of the Turkmen. A very short, podgy man with an Elvis hairstyle, he was always photographed seated. On one of the last times he was seen in public, he was seated on a colourful toy train - having just opened a children's theme park named after him.

The month we call January was named after him, too, and April after his mother. Adjacent to a grand new mosque that can take 20,000 worshippers is a mausoleum containing the remains of his parents and brothers. Just like Les Invalides, the tombs are set in a hollow about five metres deep, so one is made to bow one's head like at Napoleon's tomb. To commemorate himself, the President had at least two golden statues made. One of them, on the top of a high building, revolves on a never-ending carousel continuously facing the sun.

I did not get to see the lake in the middle of the desert that he had ordered to be constructed, nor the ski resort on the snowless border with Iran. But I did see the individually-designed public buildings, neo-classic with domes, columns, glass and marble everywhere, and fountains, monumental and impressive, that dominate the open spaces.

The President's thoughts on Turkmen history and culture were obligatory reading for his people. Three national channels reviewed the "achievements" of the country interspaced with footage of the President. What impressed me most was a large monument of a book reproducing one of his works. At specific times in the day, just like an ordinary book, this monument automatically opens up, displaying a giant monitor with the salient points in the life of the country's President.

He had days dedicated to particular themes. On one of the days I was there, it was concert day; so I had to attend a concert which was held in the afternoon with traditional Turkmenistan music and televised innumerable times. It was a good thing I was not there on health day. The President had ordered two paths in the form of stairs to be sculptured through the mountains outside the capital, one about seven kilometres long, the other 25 kilometres. On health day, he used to greet his people at the beginning of the paths and then later took off on his helicopter to welcome the exhausted trekkers at the end.

This opulence and extravagance, alas, did not extend to distributing wealth and education among the Turkmen. The vast majority of this population of five million is poor, especially the farther you get from the capital. The life expectancy is 58 years for men, 67 for women. Despite the President's concern for health, his doctrines brought the health service to the point of collapse, since he ordered the closure of hospitals and clinics outside the capital (together with libraries). His doctrines also shaped the physical landscape: forestation was a big thing and shrubbery and trees covered up unsightly buildings; but even in the countryside and on the mountains, fields that could be planted with fruits and vegetables were also filled with trees.

I keep referring to President Turkmenbashi in the past tense because in December he passed away.

He had long been ailing, or so it was said. In February this year, his successor, his former Health Minister - a man with the improbable name, to European ears, of Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov - won a general election with 89 per cent of the vote.

Some of the most disastrous policies began to be reversed, but a result of that scale suggests that the iron grip on power by the centre has been kept. The titbits of information that sometimes make the international news suggest the personality cult of Turkmenbashi is being eroded by his successor and that the country is stable.

It is worth continuing to pay attention to this country for more than humanitarian reasons. Its huge gas reserves cannot be fully exploited because of the absence of export routes. As a result, the government is entering into deals with Turkey, Russia and China. And it has good relations with Iran.

While I was there, a new pipeline was being considered, funded by Turkish money linking the country to Kazakhstan and Turkey's Mediterranean shoreline. The Chinese were there, announcing a $1 billion dollar investment programme in Central Asia. At the same time, Russian officials from Gazprom were with the President at the golden-domed Presidential Palace. Pipelines appear to be planned to everywhere - Afghanistan, Pakistan and India were mentioned.

One foreign ambassador told our delegation that her expert geologists said that Turkmenistan was overestimating its gas deposits by as much as 1.5 trillion cubic metres and entering into contracts notwithstanding this discrepancy.

So, whether Turkmenistan develops into a vital supplier for most of the world's economic powers or becomes a bone of contention between several buyers all claiming a right to its overestimated gas supplies, it remains a country to watch. In the meantime the gilded statue of its former President continues to face the sun but for how long is anybody's guess.

Dr Attard Montalto is a Labour member of the European Parliament.