Russia, Tajikistan express ‘unanimous’ opinion for safeguarding relations

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Russia and Tajikistan expressed a “unanimous” opinion Tuesday for safeguarding ties in a telephone conversation between Moscow and Dushanbe’s top diplomats.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Sergey Lavrov exchanged views with his Tajik counterpart, Sirojiddin Muhriddin, and gave him additional explanations about measures by Russian services to “prevent terrorism.”

Lavrov conveyed that the attack at the Crocus City Hall last month was the main reason for the introduction of more thorough checks of foreigners arriving in Russia.

“The temporary nature of the measures taken, their non-direction against a specific nation or religion, and the gradual normalization of the situation at checkpoints are especially emphasized,” it said.

“The parties were unanimous in their opinion on the need to take care of the time-tested Russian-Tajikistan relations of strategic partnership and alliance, to preserve and strengthen their positive dynamics,” it added.

The Tajik Foreign Ministry said Lavrov and Muhriddin discussed the situation regarding Tajik citizens in Russia, indicating that Tajikistan underlined that such a negative attitude "does not correspond to the principles of bilateral relations.”

“In this context, the interlocutor’s attention was drawn to the need for the Russian side to comply with the provisions of basic bilateral and multilateral legal acts,” according to a statement.

It said Muhriddin defined Lavrov’s remarks on the measures not being directed “against a specific nation or religion” to be “incompatible with the real situation” and that "negative actions are applied exclusively to citizens of Tajikistan.”

Dushanbe summoned Russia’s ambassador on Monday to convey concerns about what it described as an “expressly negative attitude” toward Tajik citizens in Russia.

It took place as the Tajik Foreign Ministry reported Sunday that 1,000 of its nationals were held at multiple Moscow airports “without providing proper sanitary conditions.”

Russian law enforcement agencies have been carrying out more thorough checks of foreign citizens entering the country after at least 144 people were killed and more than 550 injured when gunmen opened fire at the Crocus City Hall in the Moscow region last month.

Russia has charged four suspects with direct involvement in the attack and arrested seven others.