DUSAHNBE, May 31, Asia-Plus  -- Tajik Defense Minister Sherali Khairulloyev is attend the 50 ^th meeting of the council of the CIS defense ministers that open in the Azerbaijani capital city of Baku today. 

The meeting is considering issues related to the scope of future military cooperation.  

According to information from the Ministry of Defense (MoD), the 21 items on the meeting''s agenda include implementation of the Concept for CIS military cooperation to 2010, the activities of CIS Collective Peacekeeping Forces in the conflict zone in the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia, and a joint action plan for operative training in the CIS armed forces for 2007.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Sherali Khairulloyev is also supposed to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from some of the CIS states.    

Defense ministers from Tajikistan , Azerbaijan , Belarus , Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Moldova , Russia and Uzbekistan are attending the CIS defense ministers’ meeting in Baku .  Armenia , Georgia and Turkmenistan have refused to attend the meeting in Azerbaijan .  

The CIS, a loose association of former Soviet republics, comprises Armenia , Azerbaijan , Belarus , Georgia , Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Moldova , Russia , Tajikistan , Ukraine , and Uzbekistan .  Turkmenistan discontinued permanent membership on August 26, 2005 and is now an associate member.