Well, as they say, all good things must come to an end. Dust must return to dust and the memory of the Turkmenbashi is fading like a soft wind over the Caspian.

A 246-foot tall, rocket ship-like monument to the late ruler of Turkmenistan, topped with a golden statue of himself that rotates to always face the sun, will be removed from the center of the Turkmen capital, state news media there have reported.

This news comes hot on the heels of the reorganizing of the calendar, which unbeknownst to most, save himself, was one of Saparmurat Niyazov’s crowning achievements.

In 2002, in one his more bizarre moves, Niyazov changed the official names of the days and months. January became Turkmenbashi, or “Head of the Turkmen,” the late leader’s preferred title. April was named after his mother. And the days were given names like Bashgun (Monday), which in Turkmen is literally “main day,” or Ruhgun (Saturday), which means “spirit day.”

Those changes have long confused many of Turkmenistan’s 5 million people. But now, as with many other things in post-Niyazov Turkmenistan, yet another odd legacy of the strongman who died in late 2006 looks set for the dustbin of history.

On April 23, Akja Nurberdieva, the speaker of parliament, presented President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov with a request from the Turkmen people during a government meeting in the capital, Ashgabat.

“Esteemed President, we have received thousands of letters from Turkmenistan’s citizens and in these letters they want to change the names of months and days back to what they were,” Nurberdieva said.

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