DUSHANBE, April 4, 2011, Asia-Plus  -- The first meeting of the organizing committee for preparation and holding of a CIS summit in Dushanbe, presided over by Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov, took place on April 2.

Heads of relevant ministries and bodies as well as senior representatives from president’s office attended the meeting that discussed issues related to holding of the next CIS summit in the Tajik capital, the source at the government said.

Speaking at the meeting, the prime minister charged members of the organizing committee and appropriate ministries and organizations to take adequate measures to hold the annual CIS summit at a high level.

We will recall that Tajikistan assumed the rotating CIS chairmanship and Dushanbe will host the next annual CIS summit in September this year.

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union.  It now consists of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine.  Georgia pulled out of the organization in 2009.