Turkmenistan.ru: Situation in Afghanistan on top of agenda of international seminar in Ashgabat

11 Mar 2009

Turkmenistan.ru: Situation in Afghanistan on top of agenda of international seminar in Ashgabat

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan.ru: An international seminar titled "Central Asia and the Global Challenges of Our Time" started in Ashgabat on 10 March. It was organized by the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA).

Senior staff of the foreign ministries of the regional countries, heads of national institutes of strategic research, international experts and famous political scientists from 15 countries, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, as well as Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Germany, Iran, China, Turkey, Russia, France, Slovakia and the USA participate in the forum.

"This is a good opportunity to thoroughly discuss possible effects of the global processes on the situation in Central Asia, as well as to identify and analyze current problems with a view to finding solutions to them," the UN Secretary General Special Assistant and Head of the UN Regional Center, Miroslav Jenca, said in the opening remarks.

The situation in Afghanistan was one of the main topics on the forum's agenda owing to a special responsibility that the regional countries bear towards their neighbor. This includes assistance to stabilize the situation and ensure social-economic development in this country. The forum stressed the need to establish a political dialogue and to join efforts with major international and regional organizations, namely OSCE, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Economic Cooperation Organization, CIS and other organizations.