Turkmen calendar name change axed

Berdymukhamedov has tried to reduce the state-sponsored adulation of his predecessor [EPA] A decision by Turkmenistan's former president to rename the months of the year after himself and his mother, among other people, has been overturned. Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov, the current president, on Thursday reversed state policy enacted by his predecessor, who had renamed the first month of the year after himself in 2002. Saparmurat Niyazov, the ex-president who died in 2006, had renamed all months of the year and days of the week after his mother, poets and various symbols. The Neutralny, a Turkmenistan newspaper, reported Berdymukhamedov had told the government to return to the original Turkic and Russian names. Turkmen calendar name change axed