Turkmenistan hosted the top-level International Conference

On December 12, the Turkmen capital’s Congress Center hosted the International Conference “Policy of neutrality: International cooperation for the sake of peace, security and development”.

The President of Turkmenistan warmly greeted the heads of states – President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili, President of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambaev, President of the Republic of Moldova Nikolae Timofti, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov.

The nation’s leader also extended warm welcome to: Federation Council Chairperson of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matviyenko; Oktay Asadov, Chairman of the Milli Mejlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan; Chairman of the Senate of the Czech Republic Milan Štěch; Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Galust Sahakyan; Vice President of the People’s Republic of China Li Yuanchao;  Vice President of the Republic of India Mohammad Hamid Ansari; Vice President of the Republic of Iran Eshaq Jahangiri; Speaker of Majlis of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kabubulla Zhakupov; Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia Milan Brglez; Emir of Umm-Al-Kuvein Emirate (the UAE) Sheikh Saud bin Rashid Al Mu’alla; Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Mohammad Nawaz Sharif.

In his opening speech at the Conference, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov has highlighted that the large composition of conference participants testifies to great respect shown for independent neutral Turkmenistan throughout the world, and clearly illustrates the international community’s deep interest and positive attitude towards Turkmen neutrality.

The conference confirms the availability of tremendous potential for the use of the legal neutral status as an effective mechanism for strengthening universal peace, sustainable development and security, the head of state said.

Turkmenistan’s neutrality shows itself more and more comprehensively as a factor, which makes a positive impact on stabilization of the regional and global situations, on the content and trends of cooperation among the states and international organizations in tackling the numerous political, economic, humanitarian, and ecological issues.

We always speak openly about our readiness to orient our country’s legal neutral status to the interests of peace, good neighborly relations, mutually advantageous cooperation, and sustainable development in Central Asia, the President of Turkmenistan stressed.

As President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov noted in his speech, we have chosen the model of positive neutrality, and defined its fundamental principles: peacefulness, noninterference in other countries’ internal affairs, respect for their sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-alignment to the international military organizations and non-participation in military agreements, the head of Turkmenistan said, having emphasized that the choice had been made, first of all, on the assumption of the national interests.

Turkmenistan has never had territorial or any other claims to any state, and we decided to start our independent course in the international policy from scratch, having extended a hand of friendship and cooperation to our neighbors and the entire world, the nation’s leader continued. Neutrality has become an optimum model for achieving those plans and goals, a form, which was in perfect harmony with the content of Turkmenistan’s foreign policy.

As the time proved, the head of state said, it was a wise and forward-looking decision. Over the past twenty years, Turkmenistan’s neutral, peaceful foreign policy course has demonstrated its conformity not only to the national interests, but also to the global community’s long-term objectives, the criteria for a constructive, well-balanced approach to ensuring the international stability and security, adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter as the basis for international relations. This year’s unanimous adoption of the UN General Assembly’s new Resolution proved rightness of the choice made by our country. It expresses support for Turkmenistan’s policy of neutrality, recognition of its constructive peacemaking role in the international arena.

Having noted that today the potential of neutrality is again highly acclaimed, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov spoke of our country’s willingness to be a reliable and efficient partner of the United Nations in such crucial issues as peaceful settlement in Afghanistan, promotion of the regional disarmament and arms reduction processes, balanced tackling of the water and energy issues.

In this context, it is important to develop a multilateral negotiation and consultation mechanism within the Regional Center with participation of diplomats and experts, which will facilitate coordination of the states’ approaches to the issues of the region’s socio-economic development.  Experience has shown that it is the United Nations that enables the levers of preventive diplomacy to work efficiently and produce the desired results, the Turkmen leader said.

As President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov stressed, today speaking of the positive experience accumulated by our country after gaining the neutral status, we clearly understand that the phenomenon of neutrality needs further development. In this context, the head of state spoke of the need to carry out the goal-oriented and systematic work on further improving the scientific-theoretical framework and practice of applying the principle of neutrality in the international activity. In this connection, taking advantage of the opportunity, the nation’s leader put forward Turkmenistan’s proposal to consider the issue of creating an International Center for the study of neutrality-related matters in international law and relations.

The head of state also said that highlighting the high international importance of the permanent neutrality and given the fact that the status serves as one of the fundamental principles in strengthening peace, security and development, Turkmenistan is officially putting forward an initiative to establish International Neutrality Day within the UN framework. At the same time, the nation’s leader noted that in these issues the Turkmen party relies on the support from all UN member-countries.

Closing his speech, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov warmly congratulated the Conference attendees on the 20th anniversary of Turkmenistan’s neutrality. It is a holiday for all of us, and we are proud that we are celebrating it together with you – our partners and allies from different countries, who share common ideals and values with us, the nation’s leader said, having Addressed the best wishes to everyone.

The President of Turkmenistan gave the floor to the UN Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs Mr. Jeffrey Feltman.

After welcoming the Conference participants, Jeffrey Feltman, on behalf of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, congratulated the head of state Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov, the government and the whole Turkmen people on the 20th anniversary of the country’s permanent neutrality.

The UN representative spoke for further deepening the close cooperation with Turkmenistan, whose neutral status had become a key factor of international peacekeeping efforts, acceleration of progress, affirmation of sustainable development and prosperity in the region and beyond.

Then, the heads of states and governments, leaders and representatives of international and regional organizations, diplomats, guests of honor delivered their Addresses to the conference delegates.

Summing up the above, the President of Turkmenistan Addressed gratitude to the conference attendees for their active work and informative reports, which testify to the fact that today Turkmenistan’s neutrality and its foreign policy are attracting a deserved attention of the international community. As the nation’s leader noted, the interesting proposals, valuable ideas and appraisals will be taken into account, and, if necessary, will be put into action. We are open to extensive discussions, creative attitude to the foreign experience, positively welcome different opinions, the head of state said.

The International Conference “Policy of neutrality: International cooperation for the sake of peace, security and development” continued its work in the format of panel sessions.

In their reports, the politicians, leading politologists and analysts gave an objective and detailed appraisal of the Turkmen neutrality’ many-sided impact on the global integration process, presented new approaches to tackling the common tasks in the light of Turkmenistan’s foreign policy, peace-making initiatives.

In the course of the International Conference “Policy of neutrality: International cooperation for the sake of peace, security and development”, the bilateral documents on cooperation were signed with a number of countries.

In particular, the package of Turkmen-Palestinian documents included the Protocol on Political Consultations between the two countries’ Foreign Ministries, the Memorandum for Cooperation between the Institute of International Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan and the Institute for Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Palestine, international agreements on cooperation in the field of culture, sports and youth, as well as the agreements on cooperation in the agriculture between the sectoral ministries.

The documents also signed are: the Agreement of Cooperation between Mejlis of Turkmenistan and the Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation; the Protocol on Cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic; the Memorandum of Understanding between the Marine and River Transport State Service of Turkmenistan and the shipbuilding company “Ulyanik d.d.” (Republic of Croatia); the Agreement between the Government of Turkmenistan and the Government of the Republic of Finland on the elimination of double taxes on income; the Agreement on international motor transport services between the Government of Turkmenistan and the Government of the Republic of Latvia.

Besides, the Conference resulted in signing the Agreement between the Government of Turkmenistan and the Preparatory Commission of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization; the Agreement on the reciprocal financing between the Government of Turkmenistan and the United Nations Population Fund.

Among the documents signed are also: the Protocol on establishment of diplomatic relations between Turkmenistan and the Republic of Burundi, the Agreement between the Government of Turkmenistan and the Government of the Republic of Estonia on visa exemption for diplomatic passport holders.

Meeting between Presidents of Turkmenistan and the Republic of Moldova
On December 11, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov had a meeting with President of the Republic of Moldova Nikolae Timofti, who had arrived in the Turkmen capital to participate in the festive event devoted to the 20th anniversary of Turkmenistan’s neutrality and the timed-to-the-event International Conference.

President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov and his high-ranking guest gave consideration to the possibilities and prospects for enhancing the mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation, including in the trade-economic sphere. As was noted, it was the third meeting between the heads of two countries in the last two years.  The emphasis was placed on implementing the agreements reached during the official visits and talks in Kishinev and Ashgabat.

 

State News Agency of Turkmenistan (TDH)