Turkmenistan protests at ‘mistreatment’ of delegation

August 8, 2016 Daily Times (Pakistan)

ISLAMABAD: Turkmenistan has recorded a protest with Pakistan over ‘mistreatment’ of a parliamentary delegation and Turkmenistan Parliament Chairperson Akja Nurberdiyeva at Benazir Bhutto International Airport in the federal capital, sources told Daily Times.

National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has ordered an inquiry into the matter, the sources said. Parliamentary sources said that a parliamentary delegation of Turkmenistan was returning home after completing its two-day official visit to Pakistan last week when the officials at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport made it to stay at the state lounge for three hours despite the fact that the delegates had been declared VIP guests of the state of Pakistan.

Nurberdiyeva came to Pakistan by a special plane and her country paid $1,500 as landing and handling charges to the airport authorities, but even then she was stopped at the airport for hours. The airport officials told the visitors that the runway was busy and they would be allowed to fly as soon as the runway is cleared, the sources said.

When the National Assembly speaker came to know about this issue, he immediately called the aviation secretary and directed him to resolve the issue. Finally, the aviation secretary cleared the way for delegation’s departure.

The Turkmenistan ambassador, who had gone to the airport to see-off the delegation, narrated the incident to the National Assembly speaker, who hosted the delegation. The speaker summoned senior officials of the Civil Aviation Authority, Federal Investigation Agency and other departments and told them to clarify their position on this issue. As the officials could not satisfy the speaker, the latter ordered an inquiry into the incident and formed an inquiry committee consisting of officials of the Civil Aviation Authority, National Assembly Secretariat and the Federal Investigation Agency. He directed the officials to submit him a report on the issue as soon as possible, the sources said.

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