Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov or Saparmyrat Ataýewiç Nyýazow/Сапармырат Атаевич Ныязов (19 February 1940 – 21 December 2006), also known as Türkmenbaşy or Turkmenbashy, was a Turkmen politician who ruled Turkmenistan from 1985 until his death in 2006. He was First Secretary of the Turkmen Communist Party from 1985 until 1991 and supported the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt. He continued to rule Turkmenistan for 15 years after independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
