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TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY Matt SIEGEL Turkmen girls in traditional clothing walk underneath a giant image of President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov (L) on a building in central Ashgabat on November 11, 2009. The unsmiling face that graces billboards, massive television screens and even hand-woven carpets across ex-Soviet Turkmenistan may be different, but not much else has changed.Three years after the death of eccentric dictator Saparmurat Niyazov, which raised hopes of change in one of the world's most isolated and repressive states, a recent visit to the country showed scant evidence of reform. AFP PHOTO / MATT SIEGEL ==CORRECTS CITY IN IPTC DATA== (Photo credit should read MATT SIEGEL/AFP/Getty Images)

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY Matt SIEGEL Turkmen girls in traditional clothing walk underneath a giant image of President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov (L) on a building in central Ashgabat on November 11, 2009. The unsmiling face that graces billboards, massive television screens and even hand-woven carpets across ex-Soviet Turkmenistan may be different, but not much else has changed.Three years after the death of eccentric dictator Saparmurat Niyazov, which raised hopes of change in one of the world's most isolated and repressive states, a recent visit to the country showed scant evidence of reform. AFP PHOTO / MATT SIEGEL ==CORRECTS CITY IN IPTC DATA== (Photo credit should read MATT SIEGEL/AFP/Getty Images)
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