nCa News and Commentary
Ashgabat, 8 February 2017 (nCa) — The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on 2 February 2017, declaring 12 December as the International Day of Neutrality.
The resolution was introduced by Turkmenistan, recognized by the world body as a permanently neutral state since 12 December 1995.
The idea of dedicating a day to neutrality was floated by Turkmenistan at the UN platform in December 2015, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of attaining the status of permanent neutrality.
The UNGA resolution on the International Day of Neutrality (document A/71/L.56) notes the link between the preservation of peace and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Ms. Aksoltan Ataeva, the permanent representative of Turkmenistan at the United Nations said while presenting the resolution, “Peace, justice and broadening economic opportunities are interrelated, and neutral States serve a vital role as stabilizers in achieving sustainable peace.”
The UNGA adopted the resolution without a vote. It invites all the Member States, UN system organizations, international and regional organizations, and non-governmental organizations to mark the day through education and events aimed at enhancing the public knowledge about it.
According to the resolution, the Assembly would also propose that the Secretary General continue to cooperate closely with the neutral states, with a view to implementing the principles of preventive diplomacy and utilizing them in the mediation activities.
President Berdymuhamedov, chairing a session of the cabinet of ministers on Tuesday (7 February 2017) said that Turkmenistan maintains unwavering to its international legal status, and reaffirms that neutrality, peace and good neighbourly relations constitute the basic foundation of our foreign policy.
Expressing gratitude to the co-sponsors of the resolution as well as the entire world community, the president of Turkmenistan said, “We attach great importance to strengthening our neutrality and are proud of this special legal status of our motherland.”
He said that neutrality as our basic doctrine calls for the preservation of peace in the world, development of friendly relations among the nations, and promotes solidarity on the strength of humanistic principles.
The Turkmen leader said that the neutral status of our motherland has played an important rold in establishing broad cooperation with the countries of the world in the political, economic, cultural, scientific-educational and other spheres.
nCa Commentary by Tariq Saeedi
The timing is perfect – The world has agreed to celebrate the concept of neutrality just as we enter an era of still-unquantifiable and very thick uncertainty.
We have a team in the White House that is systematizing bigotry, we have entire nations and regions that are polarizing internally, vacating space for extreme-right tendencies, and we have a narrow but very violent section of Islam that is setting new records in atrocities and ruthlessness.
We have trade and tariff tussles, we have arms race in many areas of the world, we have a number of hotspots around the world that threaten to erupt into fully-fledged wars without any further notice, and we have the leaderships in many countries that is perhaps oblivious to the consequences of their words and actions.
We have created millions of refugees because of senseless wars and now we hate them and have closed our doors to them. By our actions, we are denying them peace in their own countries and we have closed our doors to them.
The Pacific trade deal is rudderless, the future of EU is vague, the Euro and Dollar are trying fiercely to shed their value to make imports expensive and exports viable for their own countries, and globalization is on the anvil for big-time hammering.
From the borders of Mexico to the South China Sea, from the border between Russia and Ukraine to the frigid heights of Himalaya, the tensions are mounting. These are the tensions that could have been dealt with easily had there been no external interference.
Water, closely followed by food, threatens to bring everyone to each other’s throat.
The drug abuse is gaining traction, mainly in the western societies. The deaths from substance overdoze in the United States are reaching epidemic level.
The social media is now the main source of teenage mental and psychological disorders.
The clouds are very dark but there is a silver lining, albeit very thin silver lining.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has nearly eradicated Polio from the world.
The Eurasian continent is being connected under a number of initiatives, the most important being OBOR (One Belt, One Road) model of China.
For the first time in centuries the transportation of cargo through land routes has become cheaper and faster than sea routes. The test cargo trains from China have already reached Spain, the UK, Russia and Iran with record speed.
The generation of electricity through renewable energies, mainly solar and wind, has become cheaper than power generation from hydrocarbons and coal.
The world responds in a united manner to natural calamities and disasters.
If the negative processes and the positive processes were inked on the world map, it would be clear that Asia is on the rise. More and more positive initiatives are emanating from Asia.
The incorporation of the International Day of Neutrality is an important addition to the world calendar.
The thoughtful exercise of neutrality by Turkmenistan has given birth to a number of regional and global processes in energy security, transportation and transit, communications and other areas.
Looking at the success of the concept of neutrality, one can say with full confidence that there should be more of institutionalized neutrality.
As a matter fact, the whole of Central Asia should consider becoming a permanently neutral zone. /// nCa