Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Dec. 3
By Huseyn Hasanov- Trend:
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev exchanged views on the issue of the Afghan settlement, said the government of Turkmenistan Dec.2.
During the meeting in Ashgabat, the sides said that it is possible to resolve the situation in the country only through peaceful, political means.
"We want to see Afghanistan a peaceful and prosperous country, a good neighbor and partner of all countries of the region," said Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov.
In this context, the need for creation of effective political and diplomatic mechanisms with the participation of authoritative international organizations, primarily the United Nations and its specialized institutions was stressed.
Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan are ready to provide all necessary assistance to the international community in order to normalize the situation in the neighboring country as soon as possible, consolidate the positive trends observed there recently, recover economy and social sphere, include Afghanistan in the system of regional and global economic ties, Berdimuhammadov said.
Earlier, Turkmenistan expressed its willingness to provide political space of the country for peace talks between all constructive and responsible forces of Afghanistan.
Turkmen delegation made the remarks in Beijing early November during the 4th conference of the Foreign Ministers of the Istanbul Process on Afghanistan.
It was stressed then that another important issue, without which it is difficult to talk about stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan, was the restoration and development of the economic and social development in the country.
Turkmenistan has a long border with Afghanistan and Central Asian countries regularly host events in the border security sphere under the auspices of the UN. The possible consequence of reducing the international forces for ensuring regional security in Afghanistan has become one of the key issues.