On August 29, during a telephone conversation between President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and President of the European Council Charles Michel, it was especially emphasized that Turkmenistan stands for the settlement of the situation in Afghanistan only by peaceful, political and diplomatic means and methods.
Turkmenistan continues to supply electricity to a neighboring state in accordance with existing contracts, and Turkmen electricity is supplied to Afghanistan in several directions, which makes it possible to provide electricity to almost all of its northern provinces, western and northwestern regions of the country.
It was noted that the smooth operation of checkpoints on the Turkmen-Afghan border is ensured. Regular contacts are carried out on issues of ensuring the protection of the State Border, customs, sanitary, phyto-sanitary and other types of control and supervision carried out during the movement of goods across the border.
Touching upon the impact of the situation in Afghanistan on the situation in Central Asia as a whole, the President of Turkmenistan stressed that Turkmenistan is located in a geopolitically difficult region. At the same time, the neutral status allowed our country, over the years of its independence, to keep the line on creating conditions for a stable political dialogue in the region, creating a climate of trustful political-diplomatic interaction.
The President of Turkmenistan noted that in the current difficult epidemiological conditions, it is necessary to make sensible decisions on the admission of refugees and, along with other aspects of humanitarian issues; first of all, one should seriously assess the risks of a large-scale spread of the deadly coronavirus infection.
Particular attention was focused on the fact that, in fulfilling its international obligations, including those arising from the norms of international humanitarian law, Turkmenistan provides its airspace to ensure the smooth evacuation of citizens of a number of countries, including European states, from Afghanistan. In this regard, the President of Turkmenistan informed the President of the European Union that, starting from August 15 of this year to the present, dozens of over flight permits have been granted to aircrafts evacuating citizens from Afghanistan, and said that this work will continue in the future.