Communist Party of Turkmenistan

The Communist Party of Turkmenistan (Коммунистическая партия Туркменистана; Түркменистаның Коммунистик Партиясы) was the ruling communist party of the Turkmen SSR which operated as a republican branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. From 1985, it was led by Saparmurat Niyazov. On 16 December 1991, as the Soviet Union was in the process of dissolving, Niyazov reorganized the CPT as the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan. The current Communist Party of Turkmenistan was made illegal during the presidency of Niyazov after independence and remains banned.