Birds of a Feather

I am shocked to learn that one country could contain this much… eccentricity all at one time.

Vladimir Zhirinovsky, deputy chairman of the federal assembly of the Russian parliament, exchanged views Wednesday with President Niyazov of Turkmenistan. After the meeting he was fully convinced that Turkmenistan was following a progressive path to development and there were several areas where he felt compelled to praise the forward-looking model of Turkmenistan.

I’m not so shocked at what Zhirinovsky had to say. In fact, let’s get that again.

Zhirinovsky, who is known as an outspoken and fearless politician, said that Turkmenistan had created a viable model for state development and its progressive stance was important for global peace and harmony.

Turkmenistan.ru has a direct quotation.

“This is an example that all our former Soviet republics should follow. The achievements are evident – market economy, democracy, unity of the nation, moral values and real economic data,” the leader of the LDPR was quoted as saying.

And this from state television:

Vladimir Zhirinovskiy, “thanking for the opportunity to meet the head of Turkmenistan, expressed his sincere admiration to Saparmurat Niyazov as the author of Ruhnama for the profundity of the philosophical comprehension of the five century old history and fate of the ancient Turkmen nation.”

Zhirinovsky’s pretty odd, but I can’t imagine him kneeling at Turkmenbashi’s feet in awe of his philosophical wisdom. But the man is unpredictable.

This post was written by...

Nathan Hamm – author of 2040 posts on Registan.net.

Nathan founded Registan.net in 2003. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan 2000-2001 and received his MA in Central Asian Studies from the University of Washington in 2007. Since 2007, he has worked full-time as an analyst, consulting with clients on Central Asian affairs, specializing in how socio-cultural factors shape risks and opportunities. Follow him on Twitter or drop him a line.