DUSHANBE, June 26, 2014, Asia-Plus – Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has congratulated residents of Tajikistan on the National Unity Day.

In a message released on June 26, Rahmon noted that signing of the General Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and National Accord in Tajikistan is an important milestone in contemporary history of Tajikistan.

With signing of this document a new stage of peace, stability and return of refugees has started, the president noted.

According to him, reestablishment of peace and accord in the country has given an opportunity to create all necessary conditions for development of society and democratic process in the country and creation of institutions of civil society.    

This year is the 17th anniversary of the National Unity Day of Tajikistan.  Seventeen years ago, on June 27, 1997, the confronting sides signed in Moscow the General Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and National Accord in Tajikistan.  For the purposes of achieving peace and national accord in Tajikistan and overcoming the consequences of the civil war, inter-Tajik talks on national reconciliation were conducted from April 1994 to 1997 under the auspices of the United Nations.

Protocols that were agreed and signed in the course of eight rounds of talks between delegations of the Government of Tajikistan and the United Tajik Opposition (UTO), six meetings between the President of Tajikistan and the UTO leader, and also three rounds of consultations between the delegations of the sides in Almaty, Ashgabat, Bishkek, Islamabad, Kabul, Mashhad (Iran), Moscow, Tehran and Khusdeh (Afghanistan) constituted the General Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and National Accord in Tajikistan.