Local coverage of Turkmenistan\'s Independence Day festivities, which featured a military parade in Ashgabat on 27 October, pointed to improving relations between Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. A report on Uzbek TV about the celebration across the border stressed that \"good-neighborly relations between Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have advanced recently.\" Islom Bobojonov, the governor of Uzbekistan\'s Khorezm Province, met with ethnic Turkmens to mark the Turkmen holiday, the Uzbek newspaper \"Pravda Vostoka\" reported. For his part, Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov announced on state television that Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will soon sign an agreement ensuring \"eternal peace\" along the border, RFE/RL\'s Uzbek Service reported. After several years of chilly relations, the two countries\' presidents are set to meet in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, on 19 November to settle a number of long-standing bilateral disputes. (RFE/RL)