Turkmenistan was part of the kingdom of ancient Persia and was later (8th-19th cent.) ruled by the Arabs, the Seljuk Turks (see KHOREZM), JENGHIZ KHAN, TIMUR and the TIMURIDS, and the Uzbeks.
Under Russian rule from 1881, the area initially resisted the Bolsheviks but fell to the Red Army by 1920. In 1925 the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic was formed from Turkmenian portions of Soviet Turkistan. In 1991 the republic's parliament declared Turkmenistan independent following a referendum; after the Soviet Union collapsed, the republic joined the COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES. The former Communist party has retained its hold on power in Turkmenistan, although there has been some movement toward privatizing the economy. Pres. Saparmurad Niyazov was reelected in 1992; he was the only candidate in the election. *