DUSHANBE, April 20, 2015, Asia-Plus – Tajik President Emomali Rahmon will participate in an informal summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) that will take place in Moscow on May 8.

Rahmon is reportedly expected to hold bilateral talks with a number of his counterparts from the CIS nations on the sideline of the summit.

According to the Russian MFA’s website, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in particular, noted during a meeting with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon in Dushanbe on April 2, “I’d like to begin by conveying warm regards from President Vladimir Putin.  He greatly appreciates the trusting, friendly relations that are cementing the allied relations and strategic partnership between our countries.  He expects to see you in Moscow on May 8 and 9, first at an informal summit of the CIS heads of state, and then at the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of Victory over Nazism.”

More than 270,000 residents of Tajikistan took part in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 and some 70,000 of them died in battle.  54 of residents of Tajikistan were given the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.  Besides, 15 other Tajikistan’s residents were Full Holders of the Order of Glory.

Meanwhile, two war veterans from Tajikistan, 91-year-old Hakim Khalilov and 91-year-old Yusuf Yunusov, have been invited to participate in the 2015 Moscow Victory Parade, a jubilee parade honoring the 70th anniversary of the capitulation of Nazi Germany in 1945.  Seven other veterans from Tajikistan have been invited by the Russian government to the Victors’ Ball that will take place at Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow on May 9.

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.