[1][2][3] The Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic participated in the referendum held in March 1991 in an attempt to preserve the Soviet Union as a renewed federation called the Union of Sovereign States, a referendum in which 98.26% of voters approved.

Following the events of the failed coup that took place in August, the Supreme Soviet of the Turkmenistan decided to adopt the law "About Independence and Bases of a State System of Turkmenistan", effectively declaring its independence on 27 October 1991.

After disintegration of the USSR, the Turkmen SSR became one of the last republics in the former Soviet Union to proclaim state sovereignty.

When it comes to formal protocol, there is a ceremony of laying flowers at the Independence Monument, followed by a massive military parade on the central square of Ashgabat.

[4][5] The military parade is followed by the mass procession of representatives of the five provinces, capital of Ashgabat, as well as workers in various branches of Turkmenistan's economy.