In conjunction with the celebration of the 14th anniversary since independence the Government has held inauguration ceremonies for two new facilities in Ashgabat. Two new white marble houses have been built at either end of the city. One is a four-storey building and the other has 12 stories. The buildings are exclusively landscaped, have car parking spaces and feature childrens playgrounds. Keys to the new flats were presented to officers of the National Security and Justice Ministries as well as High Court of Turkmenistan. Officers of these bodies enjoy a reduced discount rate reaching 70% when they buy flats. According to Turkmenistan.ru, house-warming parties will continue in the Turkmen capital in the coming days. Some 500 families will become lucky owners of new flats.

Sergey Lavrov, foreign minister of Russia, spent a busy day yesterday in Ashgabat. In addition to a long meeting with President Niyazov, he visited a number of places. According to News Central Asia, the minister and President Niyazov were able to achieve a fresh new level of understanding with regards to bilateral relations between Moscow and Ashgabat and were able to put past problems behind them. While discussing new models for transporting Turkmenistan’s natural resources to Europe, Turkmenistan also asked Russia to pay more for its gas. Also, after the meeting it became clear that both sides were inclined to treat the Caspian as a special sea and not a lake. This would leave Iran as the only Caspian state that still insists on a condominium approach. Russia also proposed that that the Caspian states set up a joint task force to prevent movement of weapons of mass destruction and terrorists across the Caspian Sea. How such regional cooperation could work in practice will remain to be seen as previous attempts have not borne considerable fruit. The Russian minister also suggested the United Nations may approve the Turkmen proposal of establishing a centre for preventive diplomacy in Ashgabat.