Tajik president hails outcome of talks with Putin
Avesta web site, Dushanbe
16 Oct 04
Dushanbe, 16 October: “I would like to thank [Vladimir] Putin
personally for his foresight and extraordinary approach to resolving
the complicated issues that were hampering our cooperation,” the
Tajik president [Emomali Rahmonov] has told a news conference after
Tajik-Russian top-level talks.
He said the [Putin’s] visit would give a fresh impetus to Tajik-Russian
relations.
“We attach great importance to setting up the Russian military base
in Tajikistan and restructuring Tajikistan’s state debt to Russia,”
the president said. “I think this was a great achievement. The
meeting is of historical significance to Tajikistan. The burden of
unsettled problems will no longer be bothering us and we may now work
on specific projects in a business-like atmosphere, for which we have
created a solid basis.”
Discussing economic cooperation, Tajik president called on Russian
business circles to be more active on the Tajik market. He added
that the sides discussed regional and international issues such as
fighting terrorism and drug trafficking, the situation in Afghanistan
and ways to raise the effectiveness of such organizations as the
CIS, the CSTO [Collective Security Treaty Organization; members are
Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Russia],
the SCO [Shanghai Cooperation Organization; members are China,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Russia], the EAEC
[the Eurasian Economic Community of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Russia and Tajikistan – the former Customs Union] and others.