Turkmenistan: President Turns into a Homebody

Turkmenistan's president, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, has decided to skip a series of summits in late May and early June involving the Commonwealth of Independent States and the European Union. Instead, Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov will be representing Ashgabat at the assorted gatherings.

Meredov's late May agenda suddenly got a lot busier. On May 22, he is now scheduled to lead the Turkmen delegation at a regular meeting of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) government heads. From there, he is scheduled to go to Dushanbe, the Tajik capital, for regional negotiations involving the EU and Central Asian states on May 29-30, news agencies report.

Meredov is now expected in Brussels in early June. He will head the Turkmen delegation attending the 10th meeting of the European Union-Turkmenistan joint commission. The June meeting will mark the first commission session since Turkmenistan signed important gas exploration agreements with RWE, a German energy giant.

Berdymukhamedov's office provided no explanation as to why the president had come down with a sudden case of diplomatic stage fright.