Turkmenistan has appointed Deputy Prime Minister Recep Bazarov as a board member of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS).

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov signed the relevant document.

The IFAS, established in 1990s in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, aims at financing joint projects and programs to save the Aral Sea and improve the ecological situation there.

The Aral problem has affected the north of Turkmenistan, in particular, Dashoguz region, where serious problems occurred associated with providing the population with clean drinking water and controlling salinization of tillable lands.

The IFAS was granted observer status at the UN General Assembly on Dec. 11, 2008.

/By Trend/