April in Ashgabat

OLIVIER MATTHYS/AFP/Getty Images

Today is April 28, which might not seem like that big a deal unless you live in Turkmenistan. Along with some other eccentric initiatives, the country’s late dictator Saparmurat Niyazov decided in 1999 to rename all the months after himself and members of his family. January was called Turkmenbashi, or “Father of the Turkmen,” which was Niyazov’s preferred title. April became Gurbansoltan, his mother’s name.

Needless to say, this caused some confusion. The new names were mostly used for official documents. An initiative has now been introduced in the parliament to restore the original names and Turkmenistan’s new president, the notably less insane Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, appears receptive to the idea.

Berdymukhammedov seems anxious to change his country’s reputation as the North Korea of Central Asia by establishing economic ties with Europe and slowly dismantling his predecessor’s personality cult. Changing back the calendar is a good step, but Turkmenistan can’t really turn the corner until the government is willing to acknowledge the more serious crimes of Niyazov’s brutal regime.