Aygyl Tajiyeva

Aygyl Tajiyeva (27 August 1944 – 22 July 2009) was a Turkmen activist and politician.[1]

Born in Mary, in 1990 she became a member of the Supreme Soviet of the Turkmen SSR for a district of Daşoguz Province.[2]

Tajiyeva was a member of the Assembly of Turkmenistan during the early 1990s following the independence of Turkmenistan from the Soviet Union.[1] She became an opposition critic of the President of Turkmenistan Niyazov and his government's increasingly repressive policies.[1]

Tajiyeva and her family were forced to leave Turkmenistan in 2002.[1] She settled as an exile in Sweden.[1]

She became a contributor to Radio Free Europe's Turkmen Service while in exile.[1] She gave her last interview to Radio Free Europe on 21 July 2009, but ended the session early because she did not feel well.[1]

Aygyl Tajiyeva died of a stroke on 22 July 2009 in Sweden at the age of 64.[1] She was buried on 24 July 2009 near Stockholm, Sweden.[1]