Oriented on making people closer

On February 10, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan, and Masoud Pezeshkian, President of Iran, held a telephone conversation. The National Leader of the Turkmen people, on behalf of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov and the people of Turkmenistan, as well as on his own behalf, congratulated the head of the Iranian government on the national holiday - Revolution Day and wished success in his state post, and the Iranian people - peace and well-being.

Masoud Pezeshkian emphasized the great attention in Iran to building up cooperation with neighboring Turkmenistan and sent reciprocal greetings to President Serdar Berdimuhamedov.

As noted during the telephone conversation, Turkmenistan and Iran maintain diverse relations, which are based on long-standing ties of friendship and brotherhood. Our countries cooperate in key areas of the global agenda - ensuring peace and security, sustainable development, ecology, etc.

The current year is particularly significant for Turkmenistan: at the suggestion of our country, the UN General Assembly declared 2025 the International Year of Peace and Trust. The chairman of the Halk Maslahaty thanked Iran for supporting this initiative, which co-authored this resolution, and noted the great recognition and support by Turkmenistan of the IRI's activities in the international arena.

On December 12, 2025, Ashgabat will host the International Forum of Peace and Trust, and at this time events will be held to mark the 30th anniversary of Turkmenistan's neutrality, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said and invited Masoud Pezeshkian to the Forum of Leaders and festive celebrations.

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov also announced Turkmenistan's support for consultations between the foreign ministries of both states: in this regard, it was proposed to send the Minister of Foreign Affairs of our country on a visit to Iran in the coming days.

In the context of Turkmen-Iranian economic cooperation, the existence of huge prospects for increasing trade turnover was noted. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov proposed to organize in the near future the next meeting of the Turkmen-Iranian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation and include in the agenda a wide range of issues of building up partnership in the field of energy, transport, industry, etc.

Our countries have been cooperating in the fuel and energy sector for many years, the Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty said, mentioning the agreement with the BOTAŞ company on the transit of Turkmen natural gas to Turkey through Iran under a swap scheme. In order to increase cooperation in the field of electricity, Turkmenistan proposed to lay a section from the Mary GRES to Iran under the Mary-Meshkhed power transmission line project. Negotiations have already taken place and a document has been signed: it is envisaged that the project will be implemented by Iranian companies.

Among the main areas of cooperation is transport. Turkmenistan and Iran occupy a favorable geographical position at the junction of Asia and Europe, between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf. In this regard, the importance of the highway that will be laid from the Iranian border to the city of Gumdag in Turkmenistan was emphasized. A Memorandum has been signed for the implementation of this project: it will be contracted by an Iranian company.

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov also focused on water issues, noting its relevance for the region. Turkmenistan's position on water issues was outlined by the National Leader at the "United Water" Summit in Riyadh in December last year.

In this matter, we should rely on three key principles: respect for international law, mutual consideration of the interests of all countries in the region, and involvement of international structures, primarily the UN, in this problem, the National Leader of the Turkmen people said. The Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty voiced a proposal for joint work between Turkmenistan and Iran on solving water problems in the region.

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov emphasized another important topic - the situation in the Caspian Sea. Here our countries interact in bilateral and five-sided formats. Next week, on February 17-18, Tehran will host the 3rd Caspian Economic Forum, with the participation of a high-level delegation from Turkmenistan. The expediency of focusing the Forum on solving specific economic, social, environmental and humanitarian tasks in the Caspian Sea was emphasized, TDH reports ( extended material in the source).

ORIENT

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