A meeting was held at the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan between Finnish experts from the Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation and researchers from the Scientific Center for Strategic Studies of the country’s foreign affairs university.

Recently, this has not been the first meeting with representatives of the European and EU expert community. Earlier, analysts from Italy, Poland, and other EU countries visited the capital of Turkmenistan on familiarization trips aimed at establishing working contacts and long-term cooperation. The interests of the European Union in Central Asia are focused on diversifying energy supplies, developing transport corridors, and ensuring regional security.

In the current conditions of instability related to events in the Middle East, ensuring access to hydrocarbons—a vital resource for the European economy—is critically important for the EU. This explains the interest in Central Asia and Turkmenistan shown by the foundation’s experts Janan Mosazai, Otto Turtonen, and Lucile Bardin, who arrived in Ashgabat.

On their first day in the Turkmen capital, the guests from Finland familiarized themselves with the sights of Ashgabat, visited the Turkmen Carpet Museum, and held talks with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.

The meeting between the guests and researchers from the Scientific Center for Strategic Studies at the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan was held in an atmosphere of openness and mutual trust.

The Director of the Center, Ambassador Shiri Shiriev, informed the guests about the work of the institution he heads. He briefly spoke about conferences and meetings attended by the Center’s researchers, reported on contacts with analysts from other countries with whom business relations have recently been established, and shared his professional experience.

The discussion with the Finnish experts was also attended by Center staff members Bekdurdy Amansaryev, Allaberdi Niyazov, and Orazmuhamet Annabayev.

A corresponding memorandum is currently being prepared for signing in order to establish long-term cooperation between the specialists of the Foundation and the Scientific Center for Strategic Studies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.