The President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev during his visit to Navoi province today spoke about the situation in Afghanistan. An audio recording of his words was published by a lawyer and blogger, the deputy chief of the National Information Agency (UzA) Khushnudbek Khudayberdiev.
“It is not yesterday that we started communicating with the Taliban, but two years ago. When no country had yet communicated with them, I gave instructions: "We need to establish a dialogue with them." If you saw on TV, their leader in Doha, His Excellency [Mulla Abdul Ghani] Barodar personally spoke out, he promised that not a single bullet would go to the people of Uzbekistan, towards Uzbekistan, ”Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.
“Since he remains true to his word, the fact that we are communicating with them is quite natural. I want peace and tranquility for my people, and I will conduct a dialogue with anyone. If the peace of the Uzbek people, the peace of our cherished motherland Uzbekistan is at stake, I am ready to communicate with anyone, ”the president said.
“We predicted two years ago that these events could occur [in Afghanistan],” he added.
The President assured that the defense power of Uzbekistan is ready for any outcome: “Naturally, the situation in Afghanistan makes all of us think. Don't worry, our defensive power is ready for any situation, we are in control. But what worries me is what is happening in the neighboring country. "
“Since yesterday, we have temporarily opened the Hairaton Bridge to help the suffering Afghan people. Because now the people of Afghanistan need help. If they strive for peace, we will help them. We will deliver food products from other countries by train, and we ourselves will also contribute to this. Because the only railway to Mazar-i-Sharif passes through our country, ”the head of state said.
