Turkmen leader holds talks with top US official
By Aynur Jafarova
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has received US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake, the Turkmen government reported.
The sides welcomed the commonality of the two countries' positions on a number of vital issues, which allows them to cooperate effectively on the world stage.
Blake expressed the United States' willingness to continue joint efforts with Turkmenistan in ensuring stability and prosperity in the region and praised Turkmenistan's international initiatives to jointly search solutions for global issues of modernity.
Turkmenistan was commended for its efforts to stabilize the situation in neighboring Afghanistan, including through the implementation of a number of important programs and in particular, construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline.
The Turkmen president and the US official concurred that the confidential nature of relations allows Turkmenistan and the United States not only to implement all the reached agreements, but also to outline new directions of long-term partnership, including successful cooperation in trade, economy, oil and gas sectors, agriculture, transport, communications and education.
Turkmenistan and the U.S. are cooperating in international organizations, including the UN, Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB). Turkmenistan is a member of the NATO's Partnership for Peace program.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, trade turnover between Turkmenistan and the U.S. was $163.5 million in January-November 2012.