Ashgabat to Host CIS Meeting
Ashgabat to Host CIS Meeting
After a meeting in Yalta summit where prime ministers from each member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, CIS, got together on May 27, Russian Prime Minister Mihail Fradkov announced that the next meeting of CIS heads will take place in Ashgabat.
Observers say the Turkmen authorities are doing a U-turn on their previous hostility to regional groupings. In 1995, Turkmenistan declared itself neutral and stopped cooperating with the CIS, calling it “an ineffective mechanism for coordination”.
In 2001, the then President Sapurmat Niazov refused to allow CIS prime ministers to meet in Turkmenistan, and the summit went ahead in Moscow without no Turkmen delegation present.
Observers say the Turkmen authorities are doing a U-turn on their previous hostility to regional groupings. In 1995, Turkmenistan declared itself neutral and stopped cooperating with the CIS, calling it “an ineffective mechanism for coordination”.
In 2001, the then President Sapurmat Niazov refused to allow CIS prime ministers to meet in Turkmenistan, and the summit went ahead in Moscow without no Turkmen delegation present.
