RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: When you're a dictator who falls off a horse, you don't just get back on. You erase the footage. That's what Turkmenistan's president did a few years ago when he took a tumble. Still, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov is a proud equestrian, so that wasn't good enough. This week in the capital, he unveiled a gold-plated, seven-story high monument to himself, looking gallant on a horse. It's MORNING EDITION.
President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has unveiled a seven-story monument to himself. His likeness on a horse is cast in bronze and covered in 24-carat gold leaf.