ASHGABAT, TURKMENISTAN: THE HALK HAKYDASY MEMORIAL COMPLEX

The grandiosity of the "tourist sites" in Ashgabat is hard to describe. Everything is SO over the top. 

Take, for example, the Halk Hakydasy ("People's Memory) Memorial Complex, a vast park that covers almost 7,000,000 square feet or 160 acres. It is 3,000 feet long and 2,000 feet wide. By comparison, the National Mall in Washington, D.C., is just 146 acres, and Tienanmen Square in Beijing is a puny 4,700,000 square feet. 

It took only two years to build this memorial park, which was opened in 2014. So far it features three monuments to the dead: one to honor the victims of the 1948 earthquake, one to honor soldiers killed in World War II, and one to honor those killed in a 19th century battle. There is also a museum, which we did not have time to visit.

The earthquake memorial is the most outlandish of the three monuments. A 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck 15 miles southwest of Ashgabat in October 1948 at 2:17 AM, causing extensive damage and many deaths in the city. As Turkmenistan was under strict Soviet control at the time, the actual death toll was never disclosed, but estimates are as high as 110,000, which would be over 20% of the population at the time. One website lists it as the 6th most deadly earthquake in the history of the world. Casualties included the mother and siblings of the future president of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Niyazov, leaving him an orphan (his father had died in World War II). 

How did eight-year-old Saparmurat survive when the rest of his family did not? One source I looked at said he was out taking a walk. What an eight year old is doing taking a walk at 2:17 AM is a mystery to me. There is also a rumor that the earthquake was caused by the first testing of an atomic bomb by the Soviets. Who knows?

The 110-foot-tall earthquake memorial, a marble podium topped by a bronze and gold sculpture, was created in 1998 during Niyazov's presidency to be part of an earthquake memorial located elsewhere in the city. It was moved to its current spot in 2014. It shows a large bull shaking the world between its horns and a dying mother lifting her golden child above the rubble-covered globe. The child is said to be none other than (guess who!) the future president, Sapamurat Niyazov. Though unlikely, this divine rescue is more believable that the early morning walk theory.

Another memorial at the park is the World War II monument (or "the Great Patriotic War," as it is called in Soviet states). Four towers that look like a cross between a smokestack and a churro reach defiantly into the sky:

According to President Niyazov, 740,000 Turkmen soldiers were lost during World War II. Every one of them has been proclaimed a national hero. An eternal flame (for some reason not visible in the photo below) rises in their honor from a black cauldron protected by the four posts. Interestingly, I can find almost no information online about this memorial:

It is watched over by two nattily dressed soldiers and guarded by a man in a green beret who stopped us from taking photos (but not until I had already taken this one). I was sad to miss the changing of the guard, which happens every two hours.

The short wall behind Capt. Green Beret bears the same five designs that appear on the Turkmeni flag, one of my favorite flags of Central Asia. They are symbols of the famous Turkmeni carpet industry.  The crescent on the flag is the symbol of Islam, and the five stars represent the five regions of the country:

Five flags stand together inside the park, a nice symbol of unity:

This arch is also part of the World War II memorial. Two soldiers rest wearily on their pedestals on each side . . . 

. . . and an eerie figure reminiscent of the angel of death beckons visitors to come closer. Note the five symbols from the flag repeated on the structure in front of her:

Next is what I think is the monument to the Battle of Geok Tepe ("Blue Hill"), an 1881 conflict with which the Russians solidified their power over this region, thereby taking control of most of Central Asia. Somewhere between 15,000 and 150,000 Turkmen were killed, depending on whom you ask. Record keeping wasn't so good under the Soviets:

Battle scenes appear in bas-relief on a long wall:

I'm not sure what this is--maybe the exit?--but note again the five symbols from the flag:

Next: President Niyazov's over-the-top mosque