Another national holiday proposed in Turkmenistan

Another national holiday may be proclaimed in Turkmenistan, to honour the book "Rukhnama" written by president Sapamurat Niyazov. The proposal was voiced on Wednesday by the staff of the republic's only Russian newspaper "Neutral Turkmenistan".

The newspaper proposes to celebrate Day of Rukhnama on Rukhnama 12th, or September 12th, according to the old, parallel calendar. It was on that day that Sapamurat Niyazov finished his book, the spiritual code of the Turkmen people "Rukhnama" (from Turkmen "rukh" - spirit, and "nama" - book).

Besides, today the "Neutral Turkmenistan" has started publishing the Russian translation of the book.

Recently the Ashkhabad publishers house has given out 30,000 copies of the colourful edition, sending 10,000 of them to Moscow, where Turkmenistan's embassy plans to hold a presentation. "Rukhnama" has also been published in the republic in Turkmen and English, and in Turkish in Turkey. It has been translated into Japanese, Arabic, and Turkmen with Arabic ligature. At present it is being translated into Polish, Belarussian, Chinese and German.