Saparmurat Niyazov
Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov was a Turkmen politician who served as the leader of Turkmenistan from 1985 until his death in 2006. He supported the 1991 Soviet coup d’état attempt and continued to rule the country for 15 years after independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Under his rule, Turkmanistan had the lowest life expectancy in Central Asia.
