A Conference by Turkmenistan’s Ambassador to Iran and Interior Ministry’s International Affairs

Turkmenistan’s Ambassador to Iran held a conference regarding border, customs and commercial matters.

As reported by AVA Diplomatic, Gurbanov Ahmet Kakabayevich stressed Iran and Turkmenistan do not have any problems in political, cultural, military and security areas whatsoever saying, “There have been some trade and economic issues which are resolvable and that requires more specialized meetings and official visits.”

Kakabayevich added, “Turkmenistan is very strict when it comes to drug crimes and such sternness is applied to every country’s citizen. We agree, however, that the condition of Turkmenistan’s prisons still shies away from favorable standards. Yet we are trying to make things better for prisoners. On the other hand, an agreement on the transfer of criminals has been signed and been going through finalization process. It is our hope that our bilateral cooperation brings good news to the families of the prisoners.”

Speaking of Turkmenistan’s firm will to work out customs and border issues as well as visa issuance for Iranian citizens, the country’s ambassador to Iran reiterated, “If people run across any problems in this regard, they can refer them to us so that we could solve them. We are also fine with Iran’s offer for forming a border commission and that can be made possible.”

Ramezan Shojaei, Iran’s representative, mentioned the following as sources of problem between the two countries and asked for Turkmenistan’s cooperation in this regard: border police arguments, delays in reopening border gates, delays in starting customs activities, improper condition of Iranian prisoners in Turkmenistan and tough procedures for issuing visas for their families, strict laws even for carrying light painkillers, problems crippling transit trucks in the border areas and rigorous treatment of Iranian shepherds.

In addition to providing sufficient explanations to each case, Gurbanov emphasized that by resorting to cooperation, the problems can be resolved immediately.