go in his forces to war. In the era of Oguz Han, our ancestors would go to the district of Bäherden and the region of Durun in summer. These places were the resting places for our people. It was held as a sin to cut down the trees in the forests. However, the trees in these forests have been cut down in the last century to build railways and some avaricious people have cut down these trees in order to sell the lumber.

Our beautiful land will regain the beauty and fertility that was hers in the era of our ancestors through our “Rainbow” project, by which the natural gas is delivered to the public for no charge. When I say “beauty and fertility as in the era of our ancestors,” I mean the beauties of nature depicted by the Greek scientist, Diogenes, of the first century B.C., and by Strabon, who lived in the first century A.D. These scientists described the beauties of nature here as follows: “Alexander has conquered all the cities of Girkaniýa and arrived at the place called ‘Bagtly halk’ (fortunate people). Nowhere in the world can rival that place for its wealth and interesting fruits. Girkaniýa is a country with several cities, huge, fruitful, and with great plateaus. Here, a grapevine gives 450 kilograms of grapes, a fig tree gives 3 tonnes of figs. The seeds spilled in the harvest time are sufficient for the harvest of the next year. There is a tree like an oak. There is a liquid, resembling honey, which comes out of its leaves. The native people eat that liquid. In the forests beekeeping is a widespread profession.”

“The plain surrounded by the deserts is irrigated by the Marg River. The Margiana lands are very interesting. The grapes grown there are delicious and each bunch of them is as long as the length of two arms. To defend these fruitful lands, Antioha surrounded the environment of these lands with walls which are 5.2 metres high and 250 kilometres long.”