Rouhani, Turkmen Counterpart Call for Expansion of Mutual Cooperation

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov in a meeting in Dushanbe on Friday called for the further expansion of the two countries’ relations.
During the meeting in the Tajik capital today, the Iranian and Turkmen presidents explored avenues for bolstering and reinvigorating mutual cooperation.

The Iranian president pointed to the status quo of Tehran-Tashkent relations, and said, “Iran and Turkmenistan has historic and cultural relations and the two countries should do their best to enhance their trade exchanges.”

He pointed to inauguration of Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway, and said, “Iran is the safest route to connect central Asia to the Persian Gulf.”

The Turkmen president, for his part, welcomed development of ties with Tehran in various fields, including energy, trade and road construction.

The two heads of states also conferred on latest regional and international developments.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit meeting in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe.

President Rouhani delivered a speech at the SCO summit and he is slated to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on the last day of his tour of the region.

Rouhani arrived in Tajikistan on Wednesday to attend the 14th SCO summit in Dushanbe.

The 14th meeting of the Council of Heads of SCO kicked off in Dushanbe on Friday morning.