Monument sights in Ashgabat
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Monument to the Independence of Turkmenistan
The Monument to the Independence of Turkmenistan, known universally to the foreign community as 'the plunger' (for reasons obvious as soon as you see it), is a typically ostentatious and tasteless monument that houses the Museum of Turkmen Values.
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A
Statue of Lenin
The Statue of Lenin is a charmingly incongruous assembly of a tiny Lenin on an enormous and very Central Asian plinth. Right around the corner is the brand-new Magtymguly Theatre.
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B
Soviet war memorial
The Soviet war memorial is a pleasingly subtle structure with an eternal flame at its centre.
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C
Arch of Neutrality
Being all but wiped from the earth in 1948, Ashgabat's sights can be divided neatly into two halves - the politicised, monolithic constructions of the Soviet government and the politicised, monolithic constructions of President Niyazov, with the latter increasing in number almost monthly while he was alive.
At the centre of Niyazov's monolithic Ashgabat is the embarrassingly large Arch of Neutrality, erected to celebrate the Turkmen people's unsurprisingly unanimous endorsement of Turkmenbashi's policy of neutrality in 1998. Above the arch itself is the real gem, a comic 12m-high polished-gold statue of Niyazov, which revolves to follow the sun throughout the day.
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