What Saparmurat Niyazov did in Turkmenistan is pretty funny as well:


* Niyazov banned the use of lip syncing at public concerts in 2005, citing a negative effect on the development of musical arts incurred by the use of recorded music.[21]
* Dog and cat ownership in the capital is restricted to one animal by a law restricting the keeping of herds of animals in Ashgabat.
* According to the Asgabat correspondent of Turkmenistan.ru right hand-drive imported cars converted to left-hand drive were banned due to a perceived increased risk in accidents.[22]
* Niyazov requested that a palace of ice be built near the capital, though Turkmenistan is a desert country with a hot and arid environment. The palace was never built.
* All hospitals outside of Ashgabat were ordered shut, with Niyazov feeling that sick people should come to the capital for treatment.
* He declared that doctors were to swear an oath to him directly instead of reciting the Hippocratic Oath.
* After having to quit smoking in 1997 due to his resultant heart surgery, he banned smoking in all public places and ordered all government employees to follow suit. Chewing tobacco on Turkmen soil was later banned as well.
* In February 2004 he decreed that men should no longer wear long hair or beards.[23]
* He also barred news reporters and anchors from wearing make-up on television, apparently because he had difficulty telling male and female newsreaders apart.
* Gold teeth were outlawed in Turkmenistan after Niyazov suggested that the populace chew on bones to strengthen their teeth and lessen the rate at which they fall out. He said:

"I watched young dogs when I was young. They were given bones to gnaw to strengthen their teeth. Those of you whose teeth have fallen out did not chew on bones. This is my advice..."