ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Turkmen President Saparmyrat Niyazov decreed Tuesday that human life should be divided into 12-year cycles with old age beginning at 85.
"The national life span of our Turkmen people is to be approved in the following form: 'Up to 13 years -- the age of childhood; from 13 to 25 years -- the age of adolescence; from 25 to 37 -- the age of youthfulness; from 37 to 49 -- the age of maturity; from 49 to 61 -- the prophetic age; from 61 to 73 -- the age of inspiration; from 73 to 85 -- the age of wisdom; from 85 to 97 -- old age; from 97 to 109 -- the age of Oguzhan,'" a presidential decree read on Turkmen TV said.
Niyazov, 62, falls under the inspirational period.
The World Health Organization estimates the average life expectancy at birth for Turkmen men is 60 and for women 65.
Niyazov was the head of the Turkmen Communist Party starting in 1985 (the party was renamed the Democratic Party in 1992) and has been president since Turkmenistan became independent in 1991. The DP is the country's sole political party. Last week, he was made president for life.
The president has named cities and a meteorite after himself and has proposed a new nomenclature for the months of the year in which January is named after him.
