ITAR-TASS news agency
November 19

A meeting of heads of parliaments of the Central Asian countries ended in Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan, on Tuesday 19 November. It discussed some problems of further expansion and consolidation of cooperation between members of Central Asian parliaments. Parliamentary delegations from all the Central Asian countries, with the exception of Turkmenistan, took part in the meeting.

Islam Karimov, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Emomali Rahmonov and Askar Akayev - presidents of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan - sent a joint message of greeting to participants in the meeting. The message said: "The holding of this representative forum of legislators from member countries of the Central Asian Cooperation Organization is evidence of the dynamic development of mutually advantageous contacts and of a continuous quest for new forms of interstate relations, aimed at strengthening peace and friendship in the region."

Participants in the meeting agreed to create an institution of interparliamentary cooperation - the Conference of Legislators of Central Asian Cooperation Member Countries, which will work on a permanent basis.

The Tajik delegation suggested the creation of a coalition of the four Central Asian countries for fighting drug trafficking. The chairman of the Kazakh parliament urged to eradicate "religious extremism, radicalism and fanaticism in the region."

Participants in the meeting were unanimous in their opinion that partner relations between legislators of the Central Asian Cooperation member countries are an important factor of the consolidation of friendship between the Central Asian nations.

---