Turkmenistan Colonial Records

Russians Colonization (1869-1991)
Turkmenistan was radically transformed by the invasion of the Russian Empire, which in 1869, established the Caspian Sea port of Krasnovodsk. By 1894, imperial Russia had taken control of almost all of Turkmenistan. Independence came in 1991, as Saparmurat Niyazov declared himself absolute ruler for life as Turkmenbashi or Leader of the Turkmen and transitioned the newly independent Turkmenistan into an authoritarian state under his absolute control.