OREANDA-NEWS.  February 20, 2012. President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had a telephone conversation.

Cordially greeting the Turkmen leader, the IRI President cordially congratulated President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov on the election as the President of Turkmenistan and assumption of office and wished goo health, inexhaustible vigour and great success in his important activity. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad noted that this fact testified to the high trust of the Turkmen people in their national leader who is leading his country with confidence along the path of progress and prosperity.

Thanking for the congratulations and kind words, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov noted that promotion of mutually beneficial Turkmen-Iranian cooperation was a key priority of the foreign policy strategy of the Turkmen state. In this context the Turkmen leader underlined Turkmenistan’s commitment to friendly, equal and fruitful relations with Iran that had been filled with a new content in recent years.

Noting with satisfaction that bilateral cooperation dynamically and effectively developed in the bi- and multi-lateral formats, the sides called for the enhancement of fruitful partnership built on the firm foundation of friendship and spiritual affinities of the two neighbouring nations. In this context President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad congratulated each other and the peoples of Turkmenistan and the Iran on the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and reaffirmed that the two states stood ready to foster constructive Turkmen-Iranian cooperation.

The leader of the Turkmen state expressed gratitude to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for giving all-round support to the strategy of neutrality and constructive initiatives of Turkmenistan.

During the telephone conversation the Iranian leader invited the President of Turkmenistan to pay a visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran at any convenient time. The leader of the Turkmen state invited the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran to visit Turkmenistan. The invitations were accepted with gratitude. The dates will be adjusted through diplomatic channels.

In conclusion President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad expressed belief that relations between Turkmenistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran would successfully develop further for the benefit of the two neighbouring nations based on the age-old traditions of friendship and good neighbourliness, mutual respect and equality.