RFE/RL based on reporting by BelTA and RIA Novosti 7 November 2013, 15:11
Belarus plans to launch a joint project with Turkmenistan to build aerial drones.
Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka said Minsk would soon dispatch aviation specialists to Turkmenistan to implement the project. He was talking to journalists on November 4 in Ashgabat after meeting with his Turkmen counterpart, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov.
Lukashenka said Ashgabat needs unmanned aerial vehicles "to monitor its territory, borders, and for drug trafficking."
Lukashenka also said the academies of science in both countries would sign a program on cooperation that includes 21 joint projects. One project would be to build an agricultural-equipment service center in Turkmenistan.
