Alikbek Jekshenkulov

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Alikbek Jeshenkulov is the Foreign Minister of Kyrgyzstan.^[1]

He has held that position since September 2005, when he was nominated by President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and confirmed by the Parliament. He was a compromise candidate as the acting foreign minister, Bakiyev's first choice, Roza Otunbayeva was not confirmed by Parliament. Jekshenkulov had previously been Kyrgyzstan's ambassador to Austria and then served as the deputy chief of staff and foreign policy advisor to Presidents Askar Akayev and Kirmanbek Bakiyev.^{[citation needed]}

Jekshenkulov told reporters on 5 October, 2006 that Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's first visit to Uzbekistan, a historic event in Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan relations as it was the first meeting by a Kyrgyz President in ten years, and his meeting with Uzbek President Islom Karimov on 3-4 October, were "very successful. [The two presidents] exchanged views on a large number of political, economic, cultural and humanitarian issues. There was full mutual understanding and support on a wide range of issues." Jekshenkulov and Karimov signed six agreements in which the Uzbek government agreed to send 30-40 million cubic meters of natural gas to Kyrgyzstan in 2006 at $55 per 1,000 cubic meters. According to Kyrgystan's Foreign Ministry, they discussed cooperation "against terrorism, separatism, and narco-trafficking."^[1]