On Tuesday, 26 December 2023, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov took part in an informal summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States in St. Petersburg.
The summit was attended by President of Russia Vladimir Putin, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan.
Before the meeting, the CIS heads of state visited the famous sights of St. Petersburg – the Pavlovsk Palace and Park Reserve, Tsarskoye Selo and Peterhof. All three historical monuments built in the XVIII-XIX centuries are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List and are considered masterpieces of architecture and landscape art.
Then the meeting continued at the Konstantinovsky Palace.
Welcoming the summit participants, Putin noted that such meetings provide a very good opportunity to sum up the activities of the Commonwealth of Independent States together, talk about future plans and discuss issues of concern on the international agenda.
He also spoke about the key areas of Russia’s future chairmanship in the CIS, drawing attention to the fact that close attention will be paid to further strengthening economic cooperation within the CIS. “In the past year, the trade turnover between the CIS countries has demonstrated steady growth. According to data for 10 months, it increased by 2% compared to the same period last year and amounted to $ 83.7 billion,” Putin said.
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TDH commentary: Considering the Commonwealth of Independent States as a unique platform for building long–term partnership, Turkmenistan regularly puts forward specific proposals, the main purpose of which is to develop effective forms of interaction that are in demand over time.
In this context, it should be recalled that during the regular meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State held on 13 October this year, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov made new constructive initiatives, the practical implementation of which is designed to give an effective impetus to long-term interstate relations in the CIS format, as well as to ensure security, stability and sustainable development not only in the CIS, but also on a global scale.
At the same time, it is important to emphasize that the priority positions of Turkmenistan, announced at the Bishkek Summit, fully correspond to the initiatives presented by President Serdar Berdimuhamedov at the UN General Assembly. In particular, they include development of a Global Security Strategy under the auspices of the United Nations, as well as the establishment of the Institute of Neutrality and Security, further strengthening of multilateral partnership within the framework of the Friends of Neutrality Group, created at the initiative of the Turkmen side, the creation of a Meeting/Dialogue on Security in Central Asia under the auspices of the United Nations.
At the same time, during the summit meeting held in autumn 2023, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov spoke in favor of consolidating further efforts to counter such modern challenges as terrorist threat, drug trafficking, human trafficking, penetration of radical and extremist elements into the CIS space, on issues related to cyber threats and other challenges.
Of course, the priority area of CIS partnership is the economy. In this regard, it is important to mention that in 2019, at the CIS Summit in Ashgabat, a Declaration on strategic economic cooperation between CIS member states was signed, developed on the initiative of the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty Arkadag Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. This document formed the basis for the later adopted Strategy for the Economic Development of the CIS until 2030, which provides for close cooperation in the fields of trade, industrial cooperation, transport, energy, investment and other sectors. These are precisely the sectors where CIS countries can adequately compete in foreign markets and offer potential partners favorable conditions for productive cooperation.
Noting the importance of promoting the economic interests of the CIS beyond its geographical limits, integrating into joint projects of neighboring countries and neighboring regions, the Turkmen side has repeatedly taken initiatives to diversify energy, transport and communication components in the context of the development of large-scale infrastructure corridors North–South and East–West. The CIS States, united by geography and the primordial relations of friendship and brotherhood, in the modern era have objective advantages, the optimal use of which meets the interests of universal well-being.
Partnership in the humanitarian sphere remains key in the CIS format. The cultural interrelationship and spiritual closeness of the CIS nations, the centuries-old common history are the solid foundation on which integration processes.
In this context, it should also be noted that the main topic on the agenda of the meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the CIS member States, held on 18 December 2023, was the expansion of contacts in this direction. Cooperation in the fields of science and education, culture and art, youth policy, as well as health and sports, according to the mutual opinion of the heads of the CIS countries, is an integral factor in bringing countries and peoples closer together, strengthening trusting relations between them.
Another significant area on the CIS platform is interparliamentary cooperation, actively using the experience of the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth for these purposes. In this regard, it is important to note that Turkmenistan believes that, given the increased role of parliamentary diplomacy in the modern world, such a format uniting the heads of parliaments of the CIS states is more than in demand today.
Turkmenistan stands for increasing the international prestige of the Commonwealth of Independent States and its positive impact on modern global and regional processes. All these years, the CIS states have been firmly defending the principles of equality and respect in interstate relations, advocating the establishment of a culture of peace and dialogue on the global agenda, strengthening stability and security on the planet, making a significant contribution to the implementation of the SDGs.
In this context, their active and productive interaction on the platforms of international and regional organizations, the established practice of mutual support in the consideration and adoption of important resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly, voting on candidates for elected UN bodies are very indicative.
The 49th plenary session of the UN General Assembly 78th session adopted the Resolutions initiated by Turkmenistan – “The key role of reliable and stable energy connectivity in ensuring sustainable development” and “Strengthening connections between all modes of transport to achieve Sustainable Development Goals”. These Resolution were co-sponsored by the CIS partner countries.
The collaborative spirit among CIS member states is evident in their mutual support on the international stage. This synergy leverages their combined political and diplomatic strength, enabling them to take unified positions within the United Nations and other respected international and regional forums. Moreover, they proceed from the urgency to restore respect for international law, dialogue, trust, and predictability in global relations.
It is this approach that has allowed the Commonwealth of Independent States to maintain flexibility for more than thirty years, to develop mechanisms aimed at increasing integration processes within the CIS in promising vectors of multilateral partnership, and in general determines the existence of this organization as an integral element of the system of international stability and security.
At the current summit, special emphasis was placed on the importance of giving the traditional partnership a qualitatively new content, based on the common goals and objectives. At the same time, the need to create effective mechanisms for systemic political consultations between the CIS member states was also noted, taking into account the accumulated positive experience of joint work.
During the exchange of views on priority areas of cooperation with a view to the short and long term, the heads of state expressed firm confidence that the decisions taken and agreements reached this year within the framework of various forums, events and meetings will contribute to the deepening of interstate relations in the CIS space in the common interests and for the benefit of friendly peoples.
In general, the informal summit in St.Petersburg became another clear confirmation of the desire of the CIS member states to continue to jointly build cooperation in the spirit of strategic partnership, mutual benefit and consideration of the interests of all states.
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The same day President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov retuned to Ashgabat.
At the airport he had brief conversation with Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Turkmenistan Ivan Volynkin. He congratulated President Serdar Berdimuhamedov on the success of his working visit and noted that the participation of the head of state in the informal Summit is evidence of productively developing interstate relations based on the principles of mutual respect and equality, community of spiritual and moral values of the peoples of the CIS countries. At the same time, he expressed firm confidence that the traditionally friendly Turkmen-Russian cooperation will continue to strengthen on a mutually beneficial long-term basis, being filled with new concrete content. ///TDH/nCa, 27 December 2023 (Photo credit – official website of the President of Russia)