The National Leader of the Turkmen people and Chairman of the Khalk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, delivered a speech at the 16th meeting of the Council of Elders of the Organization of Turkic States in Budapest.
In his speech, he emphasized the importance of promoting people’s diplomacy based on the principles of prosperity, peace, mutual respect, and good neighborliness.
Berdimuhamedov discussed the potential for cooperation in various fields, including hydrocarbon resources, trade, economy, and culture. He proposed specific initiatives, such as creating a Council award and badge, recognizing the Council as an organization of international level, and establishing a newspaper or magazine and an internet site of the Council.
He also proposed holding the next year’s last meeting of the Council in Ashgabat to coincide with the 30th anniversary of Turkmenistan’s permanent neutrality.
Here is a full text of the speech:
Dear members of the Council and participants of the meeting!
I would like to thank Binali Yildirim, Chairman of the Council of Elders of the Organization of Turkic States, and Atilla Tilki, a member of the Council, for their hospitality, warm welcome, and excellent working conditions.
I would like to note the significant contribution of Chairman of the Council Binali Yildirim to raising the prestige of the Council of Elders of the Organization of Turkic States.
Today we are holding a meeting based on the guidelines of the leaders of our countries, and our task is also to discuss general political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian issues.
The heads of state of the Turkic-speaking countries always come up with important initiatives. Based on this, we must promote people’s diplomacy together. This diplomacy is based on the principles of prosperity, peace, mutual respect and good neighborliness. Most importantly, we must promote the philosophy of peace and implement this policy promoted by the leaders of our countries.
As you know, Turkmenistan is a country rich in hydrocarbon resources. We will continue to diversify our cooperation in this area. In order to successfully solve the tasks facing us for the further development of partnership, I think it would be advisable if we, as members of the Council, would make specific proposals to the heads of our states and put them into practice. We have untapped potential in the trade and economic sphere. Council members have an important role to play in realizing these opportunities.
As for cultural and humanitarian cooperation, the literary heritage of our writers and poets, the national song and music art unite us. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to all members of the Council and our brothers for their cooperation in this area.
As you know, the 15th meeting of the Council of Elders was held in March this year in Ashgabat. It coincided with the month of Ramadan, and we all had a meal together. In fact, as you can see, we are summing up the year with good results.
Dear members of the Council!
With your blessing, we celebrated the 300th anniversary of the birth of Magtymguly Fragi. With your support, this year was declaired the “Year of the great poet and thinker of the Turkic world – Magtymguly Fragi”, and the city of Anau was announced the “Cultural Capital of the Turkic world”. If we turn to history, the city of Anau was one of the developed cities located along the Great Silk Road.
On the occasion of these significant events, a number of high-level international events were held with the participation of the Turkic states. I thank you for that. We must continue this partnership.
Dear members of the Council!
At the initiative of President Arkadagly Hero Serdar, 2025 was declared the “International Year of Peace and Trust” by the United Nations General Assembly. The countries of the Turkic world were among the first to support this initiative. Also, at the initiative of Turkmenistan, the Resolution “Central Asia – a zone of peace, trust and cooperation” was adopted.
Next year marks the 30th anniversary of the declaration of permanent neutrality of Turkmenistan by the Community of Nations. The meeting of the Council of Elders of the Organization of Turkic States is held twice a year. In our country, the holidays go on in succession. If you support it, I suggest holding the Council’s last meeting of the next year in Ashgabat, timed to coincide with the anniversary of the country’s neutrality. It will be a sign of respect for Turkmenistan.
In our country, people who have reached the age of the Prophet Muhammad – 63 years old – are called “honorary elders”. There is a suggestion that in the future it would be good to rename our council to the “Council of Elders” [in Turkmen the Council is called the Council of Aksakals].
I consider it advisable to create the Council’s award and a badge titled “Honorary Elder”.
At the same time, I would like to note the effective work of the Chairman of the Council Binali Yildirim. I think it would be advisable to recognize our Council as an International Organization.
I consider it an important task to pass on modern civilization to the younger generation. In this regard, I propose to create a newspaper or magazine and an Internet site of our Council.
I would like to mention the Zaman newspaper. We started publishing this newspaper in Turkmenistan from the first years of independence with our Turkish brothers. The newspaper is still published in our country.
During my speech, I mentioned the poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fragi. We have recently built a cultural and park complex bearing his name. Sculptures of writers and poets of the Turkic world are also installed in the park. I would like to note that among them there are sculptures by Yunus Emre, the master of the artistic word of the Turkish people, the Uzbek poet Alisher Navoi, the Kyrgyz writer Chingiz Aitmatov, the national poet of the Hungarian people Sandor Petefi. There is also a sculpture of the philosopher and poet of the Kazakh people Abai Kunanbayev in Ashgabat. It is a symbol of friendship and brotherhood between our peoples.
Speaking about the alphabet of the Turkic-speaking countries, as you know, in Turkmenistan, since the first year of independence, the current alphabet has been used in administrative, working and daily life and, therefore, in the state language.
In conclusion, I would like to assure you that Turkmenistan will always support the initiatives put forward by the Organization of Turkic States and its Council of Elders, the International Organization of Turkic Culture.
I wish you success in all your endeavors.///nCa, 2 December 2024