Uzbek President To Visit Turkmenistan

Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov is due to visit Turkmenistan on October 1-2.

A release from the Uzbek president's press service said Karimov and Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov would discuss cooperation in regional and international affairs.

Karimov's visit to Turkmenistan comes as the Uzbek president is seeking support in convincing eastern neighbors Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to cancel hydropower plant projects that Uzbek authorities say will damage crop land further downstream in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan.

Karimov carried a similar message to Kazakhstan earlier this month but found little support from Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev.

Uzbek-Turkmen relations were poor when Saparmurat Niyazov was Turkmenistan's president, particularly after Turkmen authorities accused Uzbekistan of supporting a plot to kill Niyazov in late 2002.

Ties have improved since Berdymukhammedov came to power in late 2006.

Based on reporting by IFX Rus and AltynAsr TV