U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met his five Central Asian counterparts in the ancient city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Sunday and reassured them of Washington’s continued engagement in a region seen as exposed to militant Islam.
Most of the five former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have poor human rights records, and U.S. officials say Kerry, on his four-day trip, is urging Central Asian leaders to expand basic freedoms. But Kerry focused on other issues in his public comments.”We’re gonna talk about economic growth and connectivity, the environment, regional security and stability, and the human dimension,” …read more
Source: TOLOnews