The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union

Subharmerat Niyazov was named the first secretary of the Communist Party of Turkmen by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985. He came to power because his predecessor, a guy named Gappasov, had been incredibly corrupt and stealing huge amounts of money from the Republic. Now that they were an independent nation, these guys had like a shitload of money,. So as the autocratic ruler of a new nation, Niyazev's immediate goal was to be as neutral as possible and make a Shitload of Money. But he also sweet talked Saudi Arabia and flew to Mecca to do his pilgrimage. For more on this story click here.