President of Turkmenistan has refused to come to Astana

President of Turkmenistan Kurbanguly Berdimukhamedov refused to attend the summit of Central Asian leaders in Astana.

Some time ago, mass media representatives announced that on March 22, Astana will host the summit of leaders of Central Asian States. President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, and the president of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev decided to unite Central Asia, but some people said that the effort of Astana and Tashkent will not work. After two months later, they get message from the official Ashhabad that Kurbanguly Berdimukhamedov will not attend summit in Astana and he will send his parliamentary deputy Akzhan Nurberdiyev instead. Nobody knows why he made such a decision. However, political scientist Dosym Satpayev says: "Berdymukhammedov will not attend the summit, but that does not change anything. Tajikistan is not a player who brings the regions closer together. There is no need to wait for any activity or offer from Ashhabad. This proposal is made by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. For example, in the European Union, the main force is France and Germany. Other countries are not activity. If Astana and Tashkent are the driving force of the region, then other political players will come by themselves".

That is not big deal if president of Turkmenistan will not attend the summit in Astana. Moreover, the format of the summit is expected to be only at the level of "consultation". Under the preliminary agreement, regional leaders will only have the opportunity to exchange opinions and share opinions at this meeting. Anyway, this is a special occasion. As, Central Asian leaders are going to meet after 13 years later.

In generally, this decision of Kurbanguly Berdimukhamedov indicates the direction in which Turkmenistan is going. Although official Ashgabat is part of the region, it is not a member of any economic or integration project, such as the CSTO, the EAEU, the SCO. In a word, Berdymukhamedov follows the policies of the former president of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov.

Translated by Nazerke Syundyukova

“The Qazaq Times”