Turkmenistan faces turbulence after Niyazov's death

ASHGABAT, Dec 22 (Reuters) Turkmenistan faced the prospect of an eventful political transition today, a day after its leader died following 21 years of totalitarianism and isolation.

The death of President-for-life Saparmurat Niyazov, 66, who enjoyed an extravagant personality cult and filled the country with statues of himself, left the strategic Central Asian nation and the wider world speculating about who would succeed him.

Turkmenistan-watchers forecast a turbulent period as the West and Russia fight for influence in a former Soviet republic lying on some of the world's biggest natural gas reserves.

''We are concerned, but it is too soon to say what will happen,'' a Russian-based European Union diplomat said of Turkmenistan, a key link in the supply chain between former Soviet gas fields and European consumers.

Since gaining independence from Moscow's rule in 1991, Turkmenistan has forged what it calls a foreign policy of ''neutrality'', snubbing both Russian and Western influence.

Niyazov's funeral was set for December. 24. The government scheduled December. 26 for the country's top representative body to meet to decide on the succession and set a date for elections.

In a sign the battle for succession may have started among rival groups, the Security Council named Deputy Prime Minister Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov acting head of state -- even though the constitution requires parliament's chairman to take over.

Berdymukhamedov, appearing in front of his nation for the first time, vowed to carry on with the policies of ''Saparmurat Turkmenbashi the Great''.

Seated in a gilded chair with a photograph of Niyazov above him, Berdymukhamedov, 49, said on television: ''Everything will be done according to a mechanism put in order by (Niyazov)''.

He will remain acting head of state until the elections, due in about two months.

Under a dark cloudy sky, national flags flew at half-mast in the capital Ashgabat as workers repainted road markings and cleaned its broad streets ahead of the funeral.

A Reuters correspondent in Ashgabat, lavishly rebuilt to showcase Niyazov's power, said the city was calm. There were no obvious public displays of grief.

Niyazov crushed all dissent in the country, which he had run like his personal fiefdom since 1985. He was criticised in the West for flouting basic freedoms and allowing torture.

He left no designated heir and his death raised concerns about the transfer of power in the Caspian nation bordering Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Washington would work with the interim Turkmen government.

''We have to make an assessment of exactly what course this administration is going to chart,'' McCormack told reporters.

''But absolutely, that should remain the goal for all people around the world, all people who have not experienced the freedom to choose who will govern them.'' A former Soviet apparatchik, Niyazov adopted the title ''Turkmenbashi (Head of the Turkmen) the Great.'' Thousands of portraits and statues of him dot the country.

A gilded statue of him rotates to face the sun in Ashgabat.

He renamed the month of January after himself. A sea port and a meteorite are also graced by his name, and he banned gold teeth, beards and long hair in young people.

REUTERS MS RK1120