Donald Lu: Turkmenistan is an island of stability
"Turkmenistan is an island of stability in Central Asia," US Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu said during a press briefing on Sunday in Ashgabat.
Answering a question about security threats in the region, the American diplomat noted that in the 10 years that his life has been associated with work in Central Asia (6 years as ambassador to Kyrgyzstan and 4 years on Central Asian issues in Washington), he has never seen a more dynamic period here than recently.
Lu cited as an example the revolution in Kyrgyzstan two years ago, the January events in Kazakhstan, the conflict in Gorny Badakhshan in May-June, the situation in Karakalpakstan this summer…
Against this background, Turkmenistan looks like an island of stability, the Assistant Secretary of State said.
In his opinion, it is the principles of independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of states that are now critically important both for the region as a whole and at the global level.
Another question to the Assistant Secretary of State concerned the activation of Russia in Central Asia, which is likely to cause concern to the United States. Clarifying this point, Donald Lu stated that "the United States wants Central Asia to have positive, constructive relations with Russia. Because there is a long history between the peoples of this region and Russia."
Nevertheless, he called the last year in relations between the Central Asian countries and the Russian Federation "very interesting".
And Donald Lu considers his main "message" to the government of Turkmenistan during his current visit and upcoming meetings in Ashgabat tomorrow to be a demonstration of the US position on protecting and supporting the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Central Asian countries.
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