Turkmenistan has been granted Observer status by the World Trade Organization (WTO ) General Council. Turkmenistan has become the last former Soviet republic to establish formal ties with the trade body, a WTO Spokesperson said yesterday.<br />''<br />''The Central Asian country filed a request for Observer status in May and expressed willingness to trigger the talks on accession to the WTO within five years.<br />''<br />''<span style="color: #222222;">Neighbouring Central Asian countries — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Afghanistan — have acceded to the WTO, while Uzbekistan has been in on-and-off negotiations on WTO accession since 1994.</span><br />