On December 11, 2024, on the eve of the International Day of Neutrality, Ashgabat hosted the International Conference entitled “Joint Efforts in Strengthening International Peace and Sustainable Development”.
The conference was attended by the heads of diplomatic missions and consular offices of Turkmenistan abroad, representatives of international and regional organizations, in particular the UN, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, as well as experts specializing in international relations and security, youth and student organizations actively working to promote peace and trust, representatives of civil society, scientific and research centers.
During the meeting, the participants shared their vision of the development of international cooperation in order to achieve peace and sustainable development. In this context, the constructive position of Turkmenistan in ensuring and maintaining peace and stability in the world was confirmed using specific examples.
At the opening ceremony of the high-level meeting of the International Conference, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov spoke about the constructive foreign policy of the state. In particular, he emphasized that “the defining feature of Turkmenistan’s foreign policy, its philosophy, is reliance on collective, systemic joint work, unification and consolidation.”
The following speakers included the Chairman of the Council of Aksakals of the Organization of Turkic States Binali Yildirim, Special Representative of the President of Uzbekistan for Foreign Policy Issues Abdulaziz Kamilov, Assistant Secretary-General of the UN, Executive Director of the Executive Directorate of the UN Security Council Committee on Counter-Terrorism Natalia Gherman; Assistant Secretary-General of the UN for Rule of Law Institutions Alexander Zuev, as well as the EU Special Representative for Central Asia Terhi Hakala, noted the importance of convening this conference in Ashgabat to discuss pressing global issues and develop coordinated mechanisms to prevent threats and challenges to peace and development.
The importance of combining efforts to maintain peace, stability and sustainable development was highlighted in their video messages by UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications Melissa Fleming and former UN Secretary-General, Head of the Global Green Growth Institute Ban Ki-moon.
The conference then continued in three thematic sessions entitled “Sustainable Development as a Basis for Peace and Trust”, “Trust between Peoples and the Role of International Organizations”, and “Innovative Approaches to Building Trust”.
The participants in the sessions exchanged views on ways to further improve cooperation by using preventive diplomacy mechanisms and strengthening the capacity of existing international and regional structures. The importance of dialogue platforms with the participation of all stakeholders in resolving various conflict situations occurring in the world was noted.
The participants agreed to best combine efforts to strengthen peace and achieve sustainable development. In this regard, the importance of the next year, proclaimed by the UN General Assembly as the International Year of Peace and Trust on the initiative of Turkmenistan, was noted.
The Outcome Document adopted upon the results of the conference reflected the main notions of the speeches.///nCa, 11 December 2024 (in cooperation with MFA Turkmenistan)
Here are some photos from the plenary session:
