Israeli FM opens embassy in Turkmenistan, near Iran border

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) — Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen has opened the country’s permanent embassy in Turkmenistan and says the move will strengthen Israel’s position in Central Asia. Cohen, in the first visit by an Israeli top diplomat since 1994, met Thursday with Turkmen President Serdar Berdymukhamedov. Opening the permanent diplomatic mission in the capital Ashgabat, about 25 kilometers (16 miles) from the Iranian border, gives Israel its third embassy in former Soviet Central Asia, after Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan, which holds vast natural gas reserves, maintains a firmly neutral foreign policy. It has remained largely isolated under autocratic rulers since independence after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.