Turkmen president to meet with Tajik and Russian counterparts in Dushanbe
Turkmenistan , Ashgabat, Sept. 3 / Trend H.Hasanov /
Turkmen President Gurbangulu Berdimuhammedov will hold several bilateral meetings as a part of t he next meeting of Council of CIS Heads of State. He will meet with President Emomali Rakhmon and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, the Turkmen government reported.
The talks will focus on "priority issues of the Turkmen-Tajik and Turkmen-Russian relations that based on the age-old ties of friendship and good neighborliness, and now entered a new level."
The report reads that "Berdimuhammedov's participation in the CIS summit commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Commonwealth, will be a new step in the development of a constructive dialogue meeting the national priorities, as well as common interests."
At the recent governmental meeting, Berdimuhammedov said Turkmenistan has significantly increased its involvement in the CIS affairs in recent years.
Berdimuhammedov said "Turkmenistan, being an associate member of the CIS, which is conditioned by, primarily, the country's international commitments arising from the status of
permanent neutrality, has taken a consistent position on the interaction within the CIS".
Turkmenistan , referring to its permanent neutrality recognized and supported by the UN, made a decision in 2005 to partake in the CIS structure as an associated member.
The CIS chairmanship will be transferred to Turkmenistan from Tajikistan at the current meeting.
Over the past years, Ashgabat hosted several events within the CIS - International Film Festival, Agricultural Forum and Summit of Foreign Ministers Council-.
The Caspian city of Turkmenbashi hosted the 39th meeting of the Interstate Council
for Standardization, Metrology and Certification of the Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS) in 2011.
Prior to that, the 65th meeting of the Council of the CIS member states' Border Troops Commanders was held in Ashgabat to discuss issues of the external borders and the security plan for 2011.
