← National days · Turkmenistan
December 21 2006· Anniversary
Memorial Day of the First President S. A. Niyazov
The day on which Saparmurat Niyazov (1940–2006), the first President of independent Turkmenistan, died; an official memorial day.

Saparmurat Niyazov (1940–2006) led Turkmenistan from 1990 and in 1991 became the first President of independent Turkmenistan. During his time the country's permanent neutrality was recognised by the UN (1995) and the rebuilding of Ashgabat began.
Niyazov died on 21 December 2006 and was buried in a mausoleum beside the mosque complex built in 2004 in his native village of Gypjak near Ashgabat. 21 December appears on Turkmenistan's official list as a memorial day.
Remembrance
Flowers are laid at the mausoleum in Gypjak and prayers are said in the mosque.
Photos

Mausoleum of Turkmenistan's first President in Gypjak · tatarstan.ru / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0 
The Gypjak Mosque · tatarstan.ru / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0 
The Gypjak Mosque complex · tatarstan.ru / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0 
Gypjak Mosque, one of Central Asia's largest · Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas / Wikimedia Commons · GODL-India 
Independence Monument in Ashgabat · Hans Birger Nilsen / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 
The Neutrality Monument in Ashgabat · Juris Paiders / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
Turkmenistan: other days
- January 1New Year's Day
- January 27Defenders of the Fatherland Day
- March 8International Women's Day
- March 21National Spring Festival (Nowruz)
- AprilTurkmen Horse Day
- May 9Victory Day
- May 18Constitution and State Flag Day
- May 25Ashgabat City Day
- MayTurkmen Carpet Day
- June 27Day of Culture Workers and Magtymguly Pyragy's Poetry
- September 27Independence Day
- October 3Founding of the Organization of Turkic States
- October 6Remembrance Day (1948 earthquake)
- NovemberHarvest Day
- December 12Neutrality Day
- 10 Dhu al-Hijjah in the Islamic calendar — the feast of the Hajj pilgrimage; moves about 11 days earlier each yearEid al-Adha
- 1 Shawwal in the Islamic calendar — the end of the Ramadan fast; moves about 11 days earlier each yearEid al-Fitr
















