On 17 August 2023, Turkmenistan will celebrate the 30th anniversary of its membership in UNESCO.
Here is a brief version of the article by Chinar Rustemova, Executive Secretary of the National Commission of Turkmenistan for UNESCO, published in the newspaper “Neutral Turkmenistan” (issue for 16 Aug 2023)
Being a member of UNESCO, Turkmenistan has established itself over the years as one of the active and dynamic partners of this Organization in the areas of its competence, while participating in many UNESCO projects and programs aimed at developing international humanitarian cooperation and intercultural dialogue.
To date, Turkmenistan has ratified 12 UNESCO Conventions in a number of important areas. The country is actively working on the implementation of the UNESCO World Heritage Program, aimed at preserving and popularizing monuments of cultural, historical or environmental significance.
Over the years of cooperation with the support of UNESCO, a lot of joint work of the scientific advisory plan has been carried out, monitoring and systematization of data, study of the cultural heritage of the Turkmen people, as evidenced by regularly held joint scientific conferences, training sessions and seminars for specialists in various fields.
In 1994, Turkmenistan joined the Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, which gave the country the opportunity to attract international experts to study the issues of preservation and restoration of monuments of national culture, which are an integral part of world civilization. Within the framework of the above-mentioned Convention “Ancient Merv” (1999), the sites of Kunyaurgench (2005) and the Parthian fortresses of Nisa (2007) were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Turkmenistan’s accession to the UNESCO Convention on the Preservation of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2011 was another important step on this path. A clear example of fruitful cooperation with UNESCO in this area was the inclusion of the “Gerogly” epos in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2015. The inclusion of the art of singing and dancing “kushtdepdi” in 2017, the Turkmen national art of carpet weaving in 2019, the craft of making dutar, performing musical art on it and the art of bakhshi in 2021, and the Turkmen art of embroidery in 2022 in the List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity was a vivid evidence of the accumulated positive experience of Turkmenistan’s cooperation with UNESCO.
In recent years, as a result of the successful implementation of the UNITWIN/UNESCO educational program, UNESCO chairs have been established at the Makhtumkuli Turkmen State University and the Seyitnazar Seydi Turkmen State Pedagogical Institute, six secondary schools of the country joined the UNESCO Associated Schools system.
UNESCO Clubs have been established at the Dovletmammet Azadi Turkmen National Institute of World Languages, the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan and the Turkmen Agricultural Institute in Dashoguz province. During this period, the National Committee for the program “Man and the Biosphere” was founded in the country.
Since 2021, Turkmenistan has been actively implementing the international program “Memory of the World”, established by UNESCO in 1992 with the aim of preserving and popularizing the World Documentary Heritage. As a result of the joint work carried out with UNESCO experts in this direction, for the first time, the heritage of the great Turkmen poet Magtymguly, represented by Turkmenistan, was included in the “Memory of the World” register. This decision was made on 24 May 2023 at the 216th session of the UNESCO Executive Board.
In the future, new areas of joint cooperation between Turkmenistan and UNESCO are opening up in such priority areas as digital technology, climate change, water resources management, sports and tourism. Turkmenistan pays special attention to the development of work in these sectors, which are important segments of sustainable development at the national, regional and international levels.
Turkmenistan served as the heart of the Great Silk Road, contributing to the development of trade, interaction, scientific, cultural and intellectual exchange along this multi-route route. In this context, it was a very timely step to nominate several sites for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List in the serial nomination “Silk Road: Zaravshan-Karakum Corridor”. These are objects along the Amul–Merv branch of the Great Silk Road, including the Amul fortress, the Mansaf fortification, the Konegala, Akjagala, Gyzyljagala caravanserais, the at-Tahmalaj stop, the medieval city of Kushmeikhan, which are worthy candidates for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List in the above-mentioned nomination. As expected, the final decision on this nomination will be announced during the upcoming regular session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) on 10-25 September 2023.
In addition, intensive work is underway to include the desert ecosystems of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in the World Heritage List. The participants of this project agreed on the positions on the joint preparation of the transnational serial nomination “Turanian Deserts of the Temperate zone” for inclusion in the World Heritage List. Currently, the necessary documents of this serial transnational object have been submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.
Currently, the Secretariat of the National Commission of Turkmenistan for UNESCO, together with the relevant ministries and departments of the country, has intensified work towards the widespread introduction of historical and cultural sites into the World List of Tangible and Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Last year, Turkmenistan presented the nomination “The Art of Akhal-Teke horse breeding and traditions of horse decoration” to UNESCO experts.
Such nominations as “The art of breeding Turkmen alabai”, “Goresh – Turkmen national wrestling”, “Felt art of Turkmens”, “Blacksmithing of Turkmens”, “The art of breeding Turkmen greyhound (tazy) and falcon” are considered for nomination in the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in the coming years. ///nCa, 16 August 2023
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