Ashgabat today hosted a meeting of the heads of the Foreign Ministry of Turkmenistan with representatives of the Taliban movement, Orient reports.
As a neutral state, Turkmenistan takes an active part in stabilizing the situation in the countries of the region.
The leadership and diplomats of our country already have experience in inter-Tajik and inter-Afghan negotiations. Official Ashgabat has repeatedly noted that the country's neutral status guarantees the provision of an optimal platform for such meetings, the source notes.
In the situation with Afghanistan, negotiations in Ashgabat guarantee equal opportunities for all participants in the process: for the Afghan government and the Taliban movement, as well as for representatives of various ethnic groups and tribes inhabiting Afghanistan.
Turkmenistan and Afghanistan are linked by joint economic and infrastructure projects: the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) transnational gas pipeline, the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) high-voltage power line and fiber-optic communication line, and the Akin-Andhoy railway.
The Taliban movement originated in Afghanistan among the Pashtuns in 1994. From 1996 to 2001, the Taliban ruled the country.
