| Annagul Annakuliyeva | |
| Native Name Lang: | tk |
| Birth Date: | 31 December 1924 |
| Birth Place: | Gasan-Kuliysky rayon, Turkmen SSR, Soviet Union (now Esenguly District, Turkmenistan)[1] |
| Death Place: | Ashgabat, Turkmenistan |
| Occupation: | Opera singer, actress |
Annagul Annamyradovna Annaguliyeva (31 December 192418 July 2009) was a Turkmen soprano opera singer and film actress.[2] Annakuliyeva was the first internationally known opera singer to emerge from Turkmenistan.[2]
Annakuliyeva first began singing at the Turkmen Opera and Ballet Theater in Ashkhabad, Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic of the Soviet Union in 1941.[2] She starred as the lead role in the opera, Zohre and Tahyr, at the theater.[2]
Annakuliyeva performed throughout the Soviet Union during her theater and opera career.[2] She also appeared in a number of Soviet films, some of which were directed by her husband, director Alty Garliyev.[2] Annakuliyeva was named a People's Artist of the USSR by the Soviet government in recognition of her professional accomplishments in the arts, especially opera.[2]
The President of Turkmenistan Saparmurat Niyazov officially banned opera in the country in 2001.[2] However, Niyazov's successor, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, lifted the ban in 2008, making opera legal in Turkmenistan again.[2]
Annagul Annakuliyeva died on 18 July 2009, in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, at the age of 84 after a long illness.[2]