NATO'S Virtual Silk Route project Council meets in Turkmenistan

On Friday, a session of the Council and the consultative group of Nato's Virtual Silk Route project is being held in Ashkhabad, capital of Turkmenistan.

Participating in the meeting, organised by the Supreme Science-Technical Council under the Turkmen president, are Nato representatives, leading scientists from Europe, Asia and America, and also officials from the Turkmen Foreign Ministry and the Ministry for Culture and Information.

Eight countries from Central Asia and the Caucasus are participating in the project marking another stage of expanding high-speed access to the Internet, which was launched a year ago.

Only in 2004, three universities of Ashkhabad were connected to the Internet. They are the Turkmen Makhtumkuli State University, the Turkmen Polytechnic Institute and the Turkmen State Institute of Transport and Communications.

The Council and the consultative group of experts of Nato's project, the Virtual Silk Route, will continue the work till May 20.

In ancient and medieval times, the Great Silk Route used to be a caravan route from China to Central and Southeast Asia and further into Europe. It dates from the second century B.C. and has played a crucial role in the development of economic and cultural ties between the peoples of Central Asia, Southeast Asia, China and Europe.