OREANDA-NEWS. October 19, 2010. An official visit President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov to Turkmenistan has started today. This visit is to become a new step to foster the traditional relations of good neighbourliness, friendship and fruitful cooperation between our peoples based on centuries-old historical and cultural affinities between the two nations and the mutual goodwill.

It should be noted that in the contemporary historical epoch the Turkmen-Uzbek dialogue is filled with a new content and actively intensified that meets modern requirements and the mutual intention to implement the profound potential of cooperation fully and most effectively and bring bilateral collaboration to a higher level. The intensity of intergovernmental relations is evidenced by the effectiveness of meetings held by the leaders of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan on a regular basis that contribute to intensifying mutually advantageous partnership.

A reliable foundation for consistently intensifying Turkmen-Uzbek cooperation is provided by the regulatory framework composed of interstate, intergovernmental and interdepartmental agreements built during the years of independence. The embassies of the two countries were opened in Ashgabat and Tashkent. Powerful incentives were offered to economic partnership; the two countries intensify bilateral trade with every passing year. A critical role in deepening and enhancing fruitful collaboration is assigned to the activity of the intergovernmental Turkmen-Uzbek commission for trade and economic, scientific and technological and cultural cooperation. This commission aims its activity at translating bilateral agreements into practice, diversifying traditional partnership and searching new optimal forms of cooperation.

A sign of the commitment of our states to full-scale constructive cooperation in the interests of the two nations as well as the entire region is the successful project of Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan-China gas pipeline initiated by Turkmenistan. The leaders of the four participating countries, including the President of Uzbekistan, attended the ceremony of putting this transnational gas pipeline into operation, which took place in December 2009.

The humanitarian dialogue based on age-old cultural and spiritual traditions, which bind our peoples from ancient times and are maintained in a worthy manner, in the contemporary epoch serves as an essential component of interstate relations. A real embodiment of these good, constructive traditions is the Festival of Turkmen-Uzbek Friendship taking place in Dashoguz Velayat. A big delegation from fraternal Uzbekistan consisting of best music and theatre groups, renowned workers of culture and art arrived in Turkmenistan to participate in this large-scale cultural action.

The Festival of Friendship, the initiative of which was put forward by the Turkmen leader Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov during the top level talks last December in the framework of the official visit of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan and supported by Islam Karimov is a new bright page in the history of Turkmen-Uzbek partnership.

The fact that the leaders of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will attend the festivities in the framework of the Festival of Friendship, which launched in Dashoguz Velayat yesterday, including a big concert of artists from the two countries, testifies to the important significance of this cultural event.

As for the upcoming top level meeting in Ashgabat, its agenda will focus on a wide range of issues regarding the approaches to intensifying Turkmen-Uzbek cooperation and the aspects of collaboration significantly intensified in recent years in the regional and international formats. Upon concluding the talks the sides are expected to sign a number of bilateral documents, which will promote partnership between the two brotherly nations built on equality, mutual benefit, respect and confidence, the best historical traditions of friendship and good neighbourliness between the Turkmen and Uzbek peoples.