Cooperation, energy to top Turkmenistan’s priorities as it chairs CIS

The flag of the Commonwealth of Independent States 

Ashgabat: Increasing the level of cooperation with international organizations, including the United Nations and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and creating conditions for enhancing trade and economic cooperation will top the priorities of Turkmenistan as it chairs the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) starting October.

Turkmenistan’s concept of its chairmanship also includes integration into global economic relationships while its key areas of partnership in the CIS will be energy, transport and communications, news reports in the country said.

Issues related to the preparations for the meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of State, on October 11 in the Turkmen capital Ashgabat, were discussed during a meeting was held at Turkmenistan’s foreign ministry with Deputy Chairman of the CIS Executive Committee Sergey Ivanov.

Last year, Sergey Lebedev, head of the CIS Executive Committee, announced that the next meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State would be held in Ashgabat upon Turkmenistan’s proposal.

Tajikistan and Uzbekistan will be the co-chairs, he added.

The CIS is a regional intergovernmental organization of ten post-Soviet republics in Eurasia formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It has an area of 20,368,759 km² and has an estimated population of 239,796,010.

Turkmenistan, referring to its status of permanent neutrality, has been an associate member in the CIS since 2005.

The member states are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

The CIS promotes cooperation across the member states in economics, military, and political aspects. It also has some power over trade, finance, security, and making laws. The members also cooperate in preventing cross-border crime.