Official: Iran-Turkmenistan Age-Old Commonalities Require Wider Ties

Head of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization Abouzar Ebrahimi Torkman in a meeting with Turkmen Ambassador to Tehran Ahmad Qorbanov underlined that the age-old relations between the two nations necessitate much wider bilateral ties between the two states, AVA Diplomatic reports.“The cultural relations between Iran and Turkmenistan find their root in ancient history and common civilizations of the two nations,” Ebrahimi Torkman said, and underlined the need for continued cultural cooperation between the two nations.

Ebrahimi Torkman pointed to the two countries’ cultural relations, and said, “Signing cultural exchanges program will further pave the path for mutual cooperation.”

The Turkmen ambassador, for his part, thanked Ebrahimi Torkman’s collaborations, and said that the Turkmen government and nation are willing to expand their cultural ties with Iran.

In similar remarks last week, Qorbanov stressed his country’s age-old and good relations with Iran, and asked for continued cooperation between the two states.

 “Iran and Turkmenistan have taken good steps during their 20-year-old relations and this cooperation should continue,” Qorbanov said in a meeting with the governor-general of Iran’s Northern province of Golestan last week.

Iran and Turkmenistan have had official diplomatic relations since Turkmenistan’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Iran was the first country to recognize Turkmenistan as an independent nation.

Since then, the two countries have enjoyed good relations and have cooperated in the economic and energy sectors.