JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel’s Foreign Ministry says it is opening an embassy in Turkmenistan.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Wednesday that the mission will open "as soon as possible in the capital Ashgabat."

Israeli ties with the mainly Muslim Turkmenistan were established in the early 1990s, but neither country has had an embassy until now. The Turkmenistan ambassador to Turkey is in charge of Israeli affairs.

Turkmenistan was one of the most reclusive regimes in the world until the death of President Saparmurat Niyazov in 2006. He ruled the oil rich country with an iron grip and cult of personality that outlawed most freedoms of expression and speech.