The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan expresses concern over the information about the events that have taken place in recent days in the Republic of Karakalpakstan of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The Turkmen side supports the timely and decisive actions of the leadership of Uzbekistan to protect the constitutional order and law and order in the country, the security and peace of the people.

We are confident that centuries-old folk wisdom, experience and foresight will help overcome the difficulties that have arisen and ensure the progressive and stable development of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the stability of state and public institutions.

Turkmenistan, as a close neighbor of Uzbekistan, connected with this country by ties of brotherhood, friendship and close cooperation, expresses its readiness to provide it with the necessary support and assistance.

Press-service of the MFA of Turkmenistan

Today, in the Ashgabat will take place the Caspian summit. The heads of the Caspian states will take part in the highest level meeting.

The heads of the Caspian states will discuss important issues of interaction between the coastal countries in the Caspian Sea, as well as exchange views on topical issues of the international and regional agenda of mutual interest.

A number of bilateral meetings of the heads of the Caspian states are also planned to be held on the sidelines of the sixth Caspian summit.

A humanitarian cargo sent from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan in connection with the devastating earthquake that occurred recently in the Afghan provinces of Khost and Paktika arrived in Kabul today.

This action was carried out in accordance with the Order of the President of Turkmenistan, who immediately responded to the natural disaster that befell the fraternal people.

Turkmenistan sent 24,700 tons of cargo, including food, medicines, hygiene products, household essentials.

Sending humanitarian aid to the Afghan people is one of the components in the implementation of systemic comprehensive support to Afghanistan by the Turkmen state for many years.

On June 23, 2022, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov met with the Charge d'Affaires of Afghanistan in Turkmenistan Mohammad Fazel Saber.

Addressing the Afghan diplomat, the head of the Turkmen Foreign Ministry stressed that Turkmenistan had received the news of the devastating earthquake in the Afghan provinces of Khost and Paktika with deep sorrow and expressed sincere condolences and feelings of empathy to the people of this country.

The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also announced the readiness of Turkmenistan to provide humanitarian assistance to the population of fraternal Afghanistan in the near future.

On June 23, 2022, political consultations were held in Ashgabat between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The delegation of Turkmenistan was headed by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs B.G. Myatiev, the delegation of Saudi Arabia - by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Waleed Abdulkareem El-Khereiji.

During the consultations, the parties discussed key aspects of bilateral cooperation in the political, trade-economic and cultural-humanitarian spheres, as well as current international issues.

It was noted with satisfaction that Turkmenistan and Saudi Arabia are developing a wide and multi-level political and diplomatic dialogue on strengthening regional and world stability, countering such challenges and threats as terrorism, extremism, drug trafficking, and other types of illegal activities, are stepping up joint efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goals. In this context, the importance of mutual support within the framework of major international organizations, primarily the UN, was emphasized. It was noted that Saudi Arabia invariably supports the international initiatives of Turkmenistan and is a co-author of many of them. In turn, Turkmenistan also provides support to Saudi Arabia, including on a number of draft resolutions of the General Assembly put forward by this country, as well as in the nomination of Saudi candidates to various UN structures.

A separate topic of discussion was the creation and development of the necessary conditions for attracting investment in various sectors of the economy of Turkmenistan, the implementation of promising infrastructure projects, and industrial cooperation. In particular, it was noted that there are great opportunities for cooperation between the two countries in such areas as petrochemistry and gas chemistry. In this regard, the value of the accumulated experience of cooperation between the Government of Turkmenistan and the Saudi Fund for Development was noted.

The parties stressed the importance of further developing cultural and scientific ties, continuing the traditions of holding mutual Days of Culture, and expanding the humanitarian dialogue between the two fraternal peoples.

At the consultations, it was especially emphasized that the official visit of the President of Turkmenistan to Saudi Arabia, preparations for which are currently in full swing, will serve as a powerful impetus for the strengthening and qualitative enrichment of bilateral ties.

Then the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was received by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan R. Meredov.

During the conversation, the parties exchanged views on a wide range of bilateral relations, as well as on the regional and global agenda. It was noted that Turkmenistan and Saudi Arabia are making a great positive contribution to ensuring peace and stability in Central Asia and the Middle East, are pursuing a responsible and far-sighted line aimed at normalizing and stabilizing global processes. The interlocutors agreed to continue the political and diplomatic dialogue, close cooperation in determining approaches to topical issues of world politics.

The head of the Turkmen Foreign Ministry informed the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia that Turkmenistan had decided to support the candidacy of Saudi Arabia as the venue for the World Expo 2030 and was ready to assist in the preparation of this important global event.

On June 23, 2022, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov had a meeting with the newly appointed Director of the Permanent Representation of the Asian Bank of Development (ABR) in Turkmenistan Artur Andrysiak.

During the meeting, the parties exchanged views on the issues of current state of relations between Turkmenistan and the Asian Bank of Development and their prospects. The sides named energy, industry, transport, trade, banking sphere and some others as the directions of cooperation.

Special attention was paid to the realization of the project of the construction of the gas pipeline Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) in the context of regional and international energy cooperation.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan having congratulated new Director of the Permanent Representation of the Asian Bank of Development (ABR) in Turkmenistan with appointment, wished him every success in new, responsible assignment.

On Monday, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov received the head of the China National Petroleum Corporation - CNPC Hou Qijun. The topic of their conversation was the prospects for cooperation in the fuel and energy sector.

Qijun confirmed the interest of the company and Chinese business circles in general in expanding cooperation with Turkmenistan on a long-term basis.

The head of state noted that this partnership is developing in many areas, both political and diplomatic, trade and economic spheres, including transport and communications, industry and technology, as well as the cultural and humanitarian fields.

CNPC is a long-standing and a reliable partner of Turkmenistan in the fuel and energy complex, an example of which is a large-scale project - the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline. More than 330 billion cubic meters of Turkmen natural gas was transported to China through this transnational pipeline. Serdar Berdimuhamedov and the President of CNPC exchanged views on further cooperation in the oil and gas sector. Hou Qijun informed the head of state about the work being carried out by CNPC in Turkmenistan, including in the contract area of Bagtyyarlyk and the industrial development of the Galkynysh gas field-one of the largest in the world.

Qijun added that he is grateful to the head of Turkmenistan for his personal participation in the opening of a new joint facility - the Gadyn gas-collecting station in Lebap, which took place the day before.

Serdar Berdimuhamedov emphasized that the Turkmen fuel and energy complex purposefully draws on the world's best practices and effective innovations to build the potential of the mining and processing sectors, diversify pipeline supplies of hydrocarbon resources and master the production of new types of highly liquid products.

On June 14, 2022, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov left for an official visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

At Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport, officials of Iran, as well as members of the government delegation of Turkmenistan warmly welcomed the distinguished guest.

In the course of a brief conversation over a cup of tea with a representative of the host country in the Hall of Official Delegations of the airport, the high level and productivity of the multifaceted cooperation established recently, as well as the trusting nature of the Turkmen-Iranian relations, contributing to even greater rapprochement and mutual understanding of friendly neighboring peoples, were noted with satisfaction.

The official meeting ceremony of the President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov with the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Seyed Ebrahim Raisi will take place on June 15. It is expected that as a result of the talks, a package of documents will be signed to regulate partnership in a whole range of priority areas.

It should be noted that the bilateral meetings held by members of the government delegation of Turkmenistan with the heads of relevant ministries and departments of Iran became a business prologue to the upcoming high-level talks in Tehran.

The organization of bilateral events in preparation for the official visit of the President of Turkmenistan to Saudi Arabia was discussed on Monday by phone by the Foreign Ministers of both countries.

Rashid Meredov and his colleague Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud agreed that political consultations with the participation of the Deputy Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia will be held in Ashgabat this month, and a meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation will be held in Riyadh in the second half of the year.

"During the telephone conversation, it was stressed that these events will be held in the context of preparations for the official visit of President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan said.

Meredov expressed gratitude to his colleague for the excellent organization of the two-day visit of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on June 1-2 to perform the Umrah Hajj (small pilgrimage) ceremony

The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Central Asian States visited the headquarters of the Secretariat of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building Measures in Asia (CICBM) in Nur-Sultan. Among the high-ranking guests are Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tleuberdi, Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan Jeenbek Kulubayev, Acting The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Vladimir Norov, the Minister of Transport of Tajikistan Azim Ibrohim, as well as the heads of diplomatic missions of the CICBM member states, according to the website of the international forum.

The Executive Director of the CICBM, Ambassador Kairat Sarybai, informed about the approaches to the transformation of the CICBM into a full-fledged international organization - the Organization for Interaction and Cooperation in Asia.

He noted that the transformation into an Organization will reflect the increased role of Asia in global issues and will bring the interaction of Member States to a qualitatively new level of cooperation. The launch of the CICBM transformation process into an international Organization is a key issue on the agenda of the Sixth CICBM Summit, which will be held in October in the capital of Kazakhstan.

Within the framework of the event, a postage stamp cancellation ceremony was held, the issue of which Kazpost JSC timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the CICBM.

The Forum, established in 1992 on the UN platform, unites 27 member states, including Central Asian Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan became an observer in the CICBM in 2021.