United States Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus Visits Turkmenistan for Consultations
On July 11, US Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus arrived in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan as part of a long-planned visit to Central and South Asia. He will be meeting with representatives of the highest levels of the Government of Turkmenistan to discuss issues of common interest in support of peace and security throughout the Central Asia region. Secretary Mabus has a long-standing record of public service in the United States. A former Governor of Mississippi, Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and naval officer, he assumed the office of Secretary of the Navy in June 2009.
Source: US Embassy
Ahmadinejad Stresses Need for Expansion of Iran-Turkmenistan Ties
During a meeting with Turkmenistan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Rashid Meredov, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said, "Relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Turkmenistan are intimate and brotherly and so far all meetings between the two countries' officials have been constructive and in line with the expansion of comprehensive relations," reported IRNA on July 14, citing the website of the President's Office. Ahmadinejad also referred to the upcoming 16th Tehran Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit, reiterating, "Beyond doubt, the presence of Turkmenistan's president at that summit would lead to strengthening and deepening the results that would be achieved in that summit meeting." Turkmenistan's foreign minister referred to his country's hosting of the 12th Meeting of the Shared Economic Commission of the two countries and the Iran - Turkmenistan Business Conference, emphasizing, "Turkmenistan has always favored expansion of its relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran and in order to achieve that objective we have broad-scale programs underway."
Turkmenistan and Iran have implemented a number of joint projects, including the construction of the Dostluk reservoir, the Tejan-Sarakhs-Mashad railroad, interstate pipelines and power lines. Currently the two countries are building the North-South railway project involving Kazakhstan and with financing from the Asian Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank.
Source: trend.az, trend.az
Turkmen President to Discuss Cooperation Issues in Switzerland
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov will pay an official visit to the Swiss Confederation in October 2012, the Turkmen government reported today, referring to Swiss President Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf's greetings addressed to the Turkmen leader on the 20th anniversary of establishing official relations between the two countries.
Widmer-Schlumpf also said that Switzerland is committed to the further development of political, economic, and cultural relations with Turkmenistan.
Source: trend.az
OSCE Supported Seminar on Combating Illicit Drugs
The OSCE Centre in Ashgabat supported a roundtable discussion on mechanisms for effective co-operation between police and drug enforcement agencies in the area of illegal drug apprehension procedures. The OSCE Centre, in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Regional Office in Kazakhstan and the OSCE Secretariat’s Transnational Threats Department, organized the two-day event to support Turkmenistan’s efforts to improve illegal drug trafficking prevention and apprehension mechanisms and to enhance national interagency co-operation capacities. The event gathered 17 representatives of Turkmenistan’s State Service for Combating Drugs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Supreme Court, and the General Prosecutor’s Office.
Source: OSCE
OSCE Helps Turkmenistan to Strengthen Maritime Security
The OSCE Center in Ashgabat recently launched several new projects to enhance maritime security, Ivo Petrov, head of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat, said on July 10 in a statement timed to coincide with the twentieth anniversary of cooperation between the OSCE and Turkmenistan. He noted that within the military-political framework, the activities of the Center are aimed at improving the qualifications of agencies responsible for border security and strengthening the security of stockpiles of weapons and ammunition. Particular attention is paid to issues such as the OSCE's actions in the field of building confidence and security and combating terrorism and illicit trafficking in drugs and weapons.
Source: trend.az
Prikaspiisky Pipeline Data Excluded from Gazprom Documents
Information regarding the Prikaspiisky pipeline has disappeared from Gazprom’s documents, says the Russian news service Interfax. Gazprom’s new memorandum does not mention this pipeline at all, and neither does the reference book “Gazprom in Numbers,” published last month. Russia, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan signed the intergovernmental agreement regarding construction of the Prikaspiisky pipeline in 2007. In October of 2008, Turkmengaz, KazMunaiGaz, and Gazprom agreed on the main principles of cooperation during the pipeline construction. A year ago, the publication “Gazprom in numbers” said the construction had not yet begun. The Prikaspiisky pipeline was envisioned to supply Turkmen gas to Europe, and Gazprom was planning to use it to compete with alternative routes – such as the Trans-Caspian and Nabucco pipelines. In October 2010,the Russian newspaper Kommersant wrote that Russia and Turkmenistan decided to freeze the project until gas prices in Europe rise.
Source: lenta.ru
Turkmenistan’s Delegation to Visit Maldives
A high-ranking Turkmen delegation headed by the Head of the Executive Office of the President of Turkmenistan and the Cabinet of Ministers, Hojamuhammed Muhammedov, will visit the city of Male in the Republic of Maldives, on 16-17 July 2012, to discuss prospects for relations between Turkmenistan and the Republic of Maldives.
Source: Turkmenistan.ru
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