Turkmenistan Bids Farewell to Niyazov as Crowds Fill Ashgabat

Funeral proceedings for Turkmenistan's longtime ruler Saparmurat Niyazov got underway early Sunday in the capital Ashgabat, drawing enormous crowds to the presidential palace. Officials opened the palace gates ahead of schedule to accommodate the volume of mourners, who filed past the open casket, leaving flowers.

Niyazov, 66, died Thursday of cardiac failure. Foreign delegations were expected to arrive from 4 a.m. GMT to pay their respects. He was to be laid to rest Sunday at a family mausoleum in Kipchak, his ancestral village.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in December 2006, in its own words.