Visiting Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov and his Uzbek counterpart, Shavkat Mirziyoev, discussed the situation in Afghanistan when the two leaders met in Tashkent on October 5.
“It was stressed during the talks that peace and stability in Afghanistan are the key to sustainable development in the entire Central Asian region,” the Uzbek presidential press service said after the talks.
Both Central Asian republics border northern Afghanistan, where significant numbers of ethnic Turkmen and Uzbeks live.
The Taliban seized control of most of Afghanistan in August, triggering alarm among neighboring Central Asian states over possible security threats emanating from the war-torn country and the potential for tens of thousands of refugees to cross the border.
Mirziyoev told reporters after holding talks with Berdymukhammedov that Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan "will continue to help the people of Afghanistan to secure peace and intend to keep on implementing transnational projects linked to that country."
The Turkmen leader said that cooperation between Tashkent and Ashgabat on Afghanistan "can be of great benefit in normalizing the political and social situation, in restoring the economy of this country."
