TASHKENT (TCA) — The new President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, is expected to pay a state visit to Kazakhstan in the first half of 2017, but Russia’s Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper has reported that Mirziyoyev may first meet with his Turkmen counterpart, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, in Turkmenistan.
Mirziyoyev would personally congratulate Berdymukhammedov on his re-election as Turkmen president in the February 12 election, and attend the opening ceremony for new motor and rail bridges across Amu Darya River as part of the transport corridor Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Oman with access to Persian Gulf ports, a strategic project for both Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
There was much speculation as to what country will Mirziyoyev choose for his first foreign visit as the Uzbek president. Mirziyoyev has received invitations to visit Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, and China from those countries’ leaders. But it seems that the choice has been made in favor of Turkmenistan, Nezavisimaya Gazeta reports.
The newspaper reports citing its sources that Mirziyoyev’s visit to Astana is likely to take place after the Navruz holiday marked on March 21-22, with his next visits being to Moscow and Beijing.
For Tashkent, it is important to intensify the dialogue with next-door neighbors, Sadyk Safayev, deputy chairman of the Senate of the Uzbek Parliament, told Nezavisimaya Gazeta. “None of the region’s countries is able to solve its problems alone. Such are the existing realities of Central Asia. This refers to the problem of water resources, border issues, and even stabilization of the situation in Afghanistan,” he said.
In the meantime, Sputnik Uzbekistan news agency today reported that Mirziyoyev will make his first foreign visit as Uzbekistan’s president to Russia, in April 2017.
