Women in Turkmenistan to get $10 Women's Day gift

ASHGABAT (Reuters) - Women in the ex-Soviet state of Turkmenistan will receive $10 each from the state this week as a Women's Day present.

A decree signed by President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and published on Monday said that every woman would get a 200,000 manat ($10) gift on March 8 "as a sign of respect".

Berdymukhamedov came to power promising change and reform in late 2006 when his autocratic predecessor, Saparmurat Niyazov, died after a 21-year rule.

Women's day, marked on March 8, is a big holiday across the former Soviet world but its celebration was limited under Niyazov who saw it as a legacy of his nation's Soviet past.

During his reign, Niyazov ruled the gas-rich nation as a personal fiefdom and tolerated little freedom. The long list of his eccentricities included a ban on gold teeth, ballet and circus.

(Reporting by Marat Gurt; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Charles Dick)