On Saturday, 6 July 2024, the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov met with Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres.
Arkadag Berdimuhamedov congratulated Antonio Guterres on the awarding the jubilee medal of Turkmenistan “Magtymguly Pyragyny 300 ýyllygyna”. Expressing sincere gratitude for the congratulations, the UN Secretary General noted that fruitful relations between Turkmenistan and the Community of Nations are reaching a new level. Guterres also stressed that this high award is a great honor for all United Nations staff.
During an expanded meeting with the participation of delegations from both sides, Arkadag Berdimuhamedov noted that recently cooperation with the Community of Nations has been developing especially actively and fruitfully, covering almost all areas in the field of security and stability, socio-economic development, modernization of democratic institutions, environmental protection, etc.
Partnership with specialized UN structures and agencies that carry out important projects and programs in various fields is successfully progressing. The effectiveness of cooperation are largely due to the mutual understanding and coincidence of the strategic goals of Turkmenistan and the United Nations, the proximity of interests in the pursuit of peace, justice, development, and respect for the rights of states and peoples as the basis of international relations.
For our country, the UN is the only universal and legitimate organization that Turkmenistan considers as a bearing pillar of the modern system of global interaction, a guarantor of preserving and maintaining peace and a balance of interests in the international arena, and the stability of the security architecture, Arkadag said.
Turkmenistan stands for strengthening the role of the United Nations in ensuring universal indivisible and sustainable security, and is taking concrete steps in this direction, he stressed.
At the same time, emphasis was placed on the initiative of the President of Turkmenistan to develop a Global Security Strategy.
As noted, such a Strategy involves the inclusion of political, economic, social, energy, transport, environmental and humanitarian aspects, instruments of peacemaking and preventive diplomacy, and the use of the potential of neutrality for the peaceful settlement of disputes and contradictions. Turkmenistan counts on the support of the UN and the UN Security Council for this initiative.
In continuation of the speech, the National Leader of the Turkmen people touched upon the issues of SDGs implementation in Turkmenistan. We are talking about such important resources as ensuring food security and adequate nutrition of the population, the widespread adoption of a healthy lifestyle, ensuring full gender equality through guarantees of rights and opportunities for women and girls, and creating conditions for inclusive, fair and high-quality education.
Arkadag noted the importance of promoting the topic of ensuring adequate financing in the implementation of global programs and strategies in the field of sustainable development. He stressed the expediency of convening the next International Conference on Financing for Development.
The most important direction of the strategic dialogue with the United Nations is cooperation with UNESCO, with which Turkmenistan implements a whole range of programs and projects in the field of science, education, protection of historical and cultural monuments of our country.
To date, more than one and a half thousand historical and cultural sites have been identified and registered on the territory of Turkmenistan.
This year’s event of global significance was the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding Turkmen poet, thinker and philosopher of the East Magtymguly Fragi, Arkadag stressed.
Speaking about the upcoming significant events of this year, the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov focused on Turkmenistan’s initiative to declare 2025 the International Year of Peace and Trust.
The visit of the UN Secretary General should be considered as the beginning of the upcoming joint activities within the framework of the International Year of Peace and Trust, he said.
Berdimuhamedov stressed that perhaps there is a deep political logic and healthy symbolism in the fact that the International Year of Peace and Trust coincides with the 30th anniversary of the international recognition of Turkmenistan’s permanent neutrality.
Our neutrality is aimed at universal development and progress, the fulfillment of strategic plans and programmatic tasks of the United Nations, the National Leader noted. In this context, it was noted that for Turkmenistan, such two dates as the 30th anniversary of neutrality and the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations are inseparable. The basic principles of neutrality reflect the principles of the UN Charter.
In conclusion, the National Leader of the Turkmen people invited the UN Secretary-General to take part in the celebrations dedicated to the 30th anniversary of Turkmenistan’s neutrality, which will be held in December next year.
In turn, Antonio Guterres noted the great importance of Turkmenistan’s peaceful foreign policy, in particular, the country’s initiative to declare the upcoming year 2025 as the International Year of Peace and Trust.
He praised Turkmenistan’s initiatives and proposals in the field of transport, which are very important for landlocked countries.
The UN Secretary General also stressed the importance of the topic of global problems. In particular, we are talking about reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
He further noted that every nation has its own culture, traditions and history. In this context, the Turkmen state is doing a lot of work to preserve and widely promote the national cultural heritage, which is worthy of respect.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres assured that all initiatives put forward by Turkmenistan will always enjoy great support from the UN.
Speech by the National Leader of the Turkmen people Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov
Dear Mr. Secretary General,
I am glad to welcome you and the members of your delegation and express my gratitude for accepting the invitation to visit Turkmenistan. I warmly recall previous meetings with you, during which we discussed important issues, exchanged opinions and assessments. Such communication has always been constructive and respectful.
During the meeting, the key directions of the strategy of cooperation between Turkmenistan and the United Nations for the long term were formulated, forms and tools for their implementation were developed and improved. And I would like to emphasize that Turkmenistan’s approaches have found support and understanding on your part.
We rightfully consider you a great friend of our country, a like-minded person in solving fundamental issues of the modern global agenda. Today, in difficult circumstances, in the important and responsible post of Secretary General, you show yourself as a high professional, a person who is fully committed to serving the high ideals and values of the Community of Nations.
On your initiative and under your direct leadership, important steps have been taken to enhance the effectiveness of the UN’s work and its role in addressing pressing issues of our time. We highly appreciate your work and believe that the guidelines you have adopted reflect the realities of today and the objective requirements for further improvement of the Organization’s work. You can always count on the assistance and support of Turkmenistan.
Dear Mr. Secretary General,
We consider your current visit as a significant event in the history of relations between Turkmenistan and the United Nations.
We expect that its results will further strengthen the partnership, give it new impulses, and adjust it, where necessary, in accordance with current realities and requirements.
In general, I am pleased to note that Turkmenistan’s cooperation with the United Nations has been developing particularly actively and fruitfully.
Today, it covers almost all the most important areas – ensuring long-term stability and security, issues of socio-economic development, improving democratic institutions, environmental protection and many others.
Our partnership is successfully advancing within the framework of specialized UN structures and institutions that work in Turkmenistan, implementing important projects and programs in various fields.
We welcome such cooperation and gratefully accept the support provided by the UN to our country.
The fruitfulness and effectiveness of such cooperation is largely due to the mutual understanding of the coincidence of the strategic goals of Turkmenistan and the United Nations, the proximity of a worldview based on the pursuit of peace, justice, development, respect for the rights of states and peoples as the basis of international relations.
Therefore, close, multifaceted cooperation with the United Nations remains a strategic priority of Turkmenistan.
For us, the UN is the only organization with universal legitimacy. We consider it as a bearing pillar of the entire modern system of global interaction, a guarantor of preserving and maintaining peace and a balance of interests on the world stage, and the stability of the security architecture. We firmly believe that today, against the background of new world realities and escalating tensions in various regions of the globe, the principles of the UN Charter must remain the legal and moral pillar of the international order.
In these circumstances, the issue of ensuring universal, lasting and long-term security confronts us with all the evidence and urgency. The United Nations has a major and decisive role to play in preserving the foundations of a stable world order. Turkmenistan stands for strengthening the role of the United Nations in ensuring universal, indivisible and sustainable security and is taking concrete steps in this direction. In our opinion, one of the basic foundations for this is the formation of a new international legal mechanism that reflects modern realities on the one hand, and preserves the principles of the world order laid down in the UN Charter and the main international legal acts on the other.
Here I would like to draw your attention to the initiative of the President of Turkmenistan on the development of a Global Security Strategy, which he voiced at the plenary session of the General Assembly last September.
This proposal is based on the need to develop coordinated approaches to security as a set of measures relevant to the whole world and requiring an appropriate integrated approach.
Such a mechanism should include political, economic, social, energy, transport, environmental and humanitarian aspects, tools for peacemaking and preventive diplomacy, and the use of the experience of neutrality in resolving conflicts and disputes. The ideological basis of the Strategy is the restoration of strategic culture in modern politics as a readiness and ability for constructive, respectful, equal dialogue. I am deeply convinced that there is no alternative to such a dialogue.
We very much count on your support for Turkmenistan’s initiative to create a Global Security Strategy, and on the understanding of the Security Council and the General Assembly.
Dear Mr. Secretary General,
Your visit to Turkmenistan provides a good opportunity to exchange views on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Agenda.
First of all, I would like to emphasize that Turkmenistan, fully supporting this Agenda, immediately began to implement consistent and substantive steps to adapt the Sustainable Development Goals at the national level.
Today, the most important parameters of the SDGs, as well as their corresponding tasks and indicators, are organically integrated into the National Program of Socio-Economic Development of Turkmenistan in 2022-2052 and other conceptual documents.
In the economic part of the Program, the implementation of the SDGs is designed to promote universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy supply, stable economic growth and full employment, the creation of flexible infrastructure, support sustainable industrialization and encourage innovation.
The implementation of the SDGs in Turkmenistan has a pronounced social orientation. We are talking about such important aspects as ensuring food security and improving the nutrition of the population, the widespread adoption of a healthy lifestyle, ensuring full gender equality through guarantees of rights and opportunities for all women and girls, and creating conditions for inclusive, fair and high-quality education.
Starting to implement national plans in various sectors of the economy, Turkmenistan responsibly and strictly correlates them with the environmental component of the Development Goals. Here, the priority task for us is the effective implementation of modern production schemes and methods, the construction of industrial and social infrastructure, which minimizes the negative consequences for the environment.
Supporting the efforts of the international community to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Turkmenistan is moving towards the use of modern environmentally friendly and resource-saving technologies in industry, oil and gas, energy and transport sectors, where a significant part of greenhouse gas emissions occur.
We consider it important to promote the topic of ensuring adequate financing in the implementation of global programs and strategies in the field of sustainable development. In this regard, in order to accelerate the implementation of the decisions of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development and the mobilization of resources to achieve the SDGs, we always emphasize the expediency of organizing another International Conference on Financing for Development.
We support the further strengthening of the coordinating role of the General Assembly and the UN Economic and Social Council, as well as the mechanism of regular high–level political forums on sustainable development in the review of progress in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
Dear Mr. Secretary General,
In the context of the strategic dialogue with the United Nations, we highlight productive cooperation with UNESCO, with which Turkmenistan implements a whole range of programs and projects in the field of science and education, protection of historical and cultural monuments of our country.
One of the significant results of many years of joint work is the inclusion of historical and architectural sites of Turkmenistan – Ancient Merv, Kunyaurgench and Parthian fortresses of Nisa, the exquisite art of “Gerogly”, the Turkmen national art of singing and dancing kushtdepdi, Turkmen traditional art of carpet weaving, the craft of making dutar, performing musical art on it and the art of bakhshi, which are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Mankind includes nine nominations, including “Turkmen embroidery art”, “Sericulture and traditional silk production for weaving” and “Traditions of retelling the parables of Molla Ependi”, “Akhal-Teke horse breeding art and traditions of horse decoration”.
To date, more than one thousand five hundred historical and cultural monuments have been identified and registered on the territory of Turkmenistan.
The 300th anniversary of the outstanding Turkmen poet, thinker and philosopher of the East, Magtymguly Fragi, celebrated this year, has become an event of world significance. The collection of his manuscripts is included in the international list of “Memory of the World”, and the Day of celebration of the 300th anniversary of the birth of Magtymguly is included in the UNESCO List of Memorable Dates. Also at the meeting of the Permanent Council of TURKSOY, the International Organization of Turkic Culture, the current year was declared “The Year of the great poet and thinker of the Turkic world – Magtymguly Fragi”.
Dear Mr. Secretary General,
The coming year will be significant in many ways.
As you know, at the initiative of Turkmenistan, 2025 was declared the International Year of Peace and Trust. It was an important, landmark decision, unanimously supported by the General Assembly and enshrined in the relevant Resolution.
In fact, this initiative of Turkmenistan has become a direct call for all states of the world to realize their responsibility for the fate of the planet, stop the growing escalation and intolerance, soberly analyze the current situation, rethink it from a historical and perspective point of view.
Our call must be heard! First of all, because the philosophy of peace and trust is of universal importance. It is always in demand and constructive, meets the genuine, not the momentary needs of universal development and progress. And in this sense, the International Year of Peace and Trust largely reflects and fulfills the deep ideological, humanistic messages and practical plans embedded in its idea.
In this context, we see a common task in turning the International Year of Peace and Trust into a powerful creative process designed to stimulate cooperation and mutual understanding, rapprochement of positions, approval of the peace agenda, and the formation of a positive trend for the long term.
Turkmenistan will make every effort, put its peacekeeping potential and experience to implement the provisions of the relevant General Assembly resolution.
I propose to consider your current visit as the beginning of the upcoming joint work within the framework of the International Year of Peace and Trust. I am convinced that it will be fruitful and provide tangible results in the interests of the peoples of the whole world, progress and development.
Dear Mr. Secretary General,
Perhaps there is a deep political logic and healthy symbolism that the International Year of Peace and Trust coincides with the 30th anniversary of the international recognition of Turkmenistan’s permanent neutrality.
We are rightfully proud that it is within the walls of the United Nations that our desire to be a neutral State has become a reality, having received recognition from all members of the world community.
At the same time, it should be emphasized that we consider Turkmenistan’s neutrality as a factor of broad, constructive international cooperation, a positive impact on the settlement and resolution of existing issues and contradictions by peaceful, political and diplomatic means, at the negotiating table.
We rightly say that our neutrality is aimed at universal development and progress, the fulfillment of strategic objectives and programmatic tasks of the United Nations.
Therefore, for Turkmenistan, such two dates as the 30th anniversary of neutrality and the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations are inseparable. The basic principles of neutrality – commitment to peace, good–neighborliness, cooperation and mutual understanding, respect for international law – are, in fact, a reflection of the principles of the UN Charter. And these principles, in our opinion, are now becoming a genuine imperative of the modern world order, an indispensable and main condition for progressive and creative development, and a peaceful future for our planet.
Dear Mr. Secretary General,
With great respect, we invite you to take part in the festive celebrations dedicated to the 30th anniversary of Turkmenistan’s neutrality, which will be held in our country next December.
We will mark this date with the entire world community, numerous friends, partners and like-minded people of Turkmenistan. Your presence will be a great honor for our country and the Turkmen people.
In conclusion, I would like to once again express my deep gratitude to you for this visit, attention and personal participation in the development of cooperation with Turkmenistan. We highly appreciate this approach and are ready to work with you to implement common plans and aspirations.
Thank you for your attention. ///nCa, 8 July 2024