Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen will fly from Azerbaijan to Turkmenistan on Wednesday night, becoming the first Israeli minister to visit the central Asian state in nearly three decades,
The Times of Israel reports.
Then-foreign minister Shimon Peres visited the oil-rich dictatorship in 1994, three years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which had ruled the area.
Cohen will inaugurate Israel’s embassy in the Turkmen capital Ashgabat, a mere 15 miles from Iran’s northeast border. The office will be Israel’s closest embassy to its archenemy Iran.
Turkmenistan’s border with Iran stretches for 713 miles (1,148 kilometers), offering Israel an enticing possible means of entry into the Islamic Republic as it tries to stop Tehran’s nuclear program.
Israel has had an ambassador in Ashgabat for a decade, but he has worked out of hotels and a temporary office.
