Turk-cool-istan

C.J. Chivers takes us inside totalitarianism's last hang-out: For all of their efforts at grandeur, the monuments are in their way a distraction. Much more interesting are the ways that social pressures in a police state, combined with the barrage of propaganda used to maintain Mr. Niyazov's lingering personality cult, can twist public speech into forms at once safe and absurd.



As his car pulled away, Kaka's first soliloquy was a dedication. "When our president addressed us he always began, 'My dear people,' " Kaka said. "He never said only 'My people.' Never! How he loved us! Such love!"



He was silent for a while. Then he slapped the steering wheel. "Such a man will never happen…