President Berdimuhamedov of Turkmenistan and president-elect Ebrahim Raisi of Iran had a telephone conversation on Tuesday, 20 July 2021.
They congratulated each other on the festival of Eid al-Adha and discussed a number of matters of mutual interest.
Raisi highlighted the great potential for enhanced partnership and said that Iran considers Turkmenistan as more than just a neighbouring country.
“I emphasize that operational talks should start as soon as possible to accelerate the development of relations,” the president-elect added.
Raisi brought up the fast changing situation in Afghanistan and underlined the need for urgent talks and consultations in this regard. He added that Afghanistan’s security should be provided by its own people as foreign forces only bring insecurity to the region.
The Turkmen president praised the deep-rooted historical and cultural ties, which have been developed based on the principles of equality, mutual respect and common interests of the two countries.
Berdimuhamedov thanked Raisi for the invitation to take part in the inauguration ceremony of the president-elect of Iran but said that unfortunately he would not be able to join because of the previously planned high level events in Turkmenistan. He said that a high level delegation of Turkmenistan will participate in the ceremony.
The Turkmen leader invited Raisi for two regional events that will take place in Turkmenistan –the Sixth Caspian Summit and the 15th Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Summit. These summits will take place respectively in October and November this year. Turkmenistan is the current chair of ECO. /// nCa, 21 July 2021