TURKMENISTAN OPPOSES SUPRANATIONAL BODIES.

In his address to the summit, made public in advance, Turkmen president Saparmurat Niazov ranked bilateral ahead of multilateral ties among CIS countries and came out against the creation of "supranational" or "controlling" bodies in the CIS. Like his Uzbek and Kazakstani counterparts, Niazov warned against "attempts to artificially accelerate CIS processes." He also invoked Turkmenistan’s UN-sanctioned neutral status (also endorsed by CIS member countries) as an the argument against joining "blocs." (Interfax, Itar-Tass, March 27)

Resource-Poor Kyrgyzstan Needs Russia.