On 15 January 2025, the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Turkmenistan hosted a briefing in honor of Defender of the Motherland Day and the 33rd anniversary of the founding of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The official guest of the Government of Turkmenistan was the Deputy Minister of Defense, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Turkmenistan, Colonel Akmyrat Anemetov.
Here is the speech of the Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Turkmenistan Ravshanbek Alimov:
Good afternoon, Honorable Deputy Minister of Defense, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Turkmenistan, Colonel Anemetov Akmyrat Aganiyazovich, Honorable military attachés, Dear participants of the event!
On behalf of the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Turkmenistan, I express our deep gratitude for your participation in today’s briefing dedicated to the celebrations of the Homeland Defenders Day and the 33rd anniversary of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Our sacred Motherland – Uzbekistan is today being revived and consistently developing along the path of implementing the Strategy of the New Uzbekistan.
Under the leadership of the President of our country, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, the esteemed Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the hardworking multinational people of Uzbekistan are achieving new successes in the socio-political, socio-economic and cultural-humanitarian spheres of development.
Faithful to their oath and honorably fulfilling their sacred duty, as well as continuing the traditions of our great ancestors, our sons bravely and valiantly serve, protect the peaceful life of the citizens of our country, reliably protect the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
We always remember that the Armed Forces of Uzbekistan are a reliable support and pride of our people, a guarantee of sustainable development of the country and in this spirit we educate our youth and children.
At the initiative of the President, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, as a result of large-scale reforms carried out in our country in recent years, the image and potential of our national army have changed radically.
Today, the Armed Forces of Uzbekistan have become a powerful force, mobile and well-armed, capable of ensuring the security and stability of our country, the inviolability of our borders.
In this process, the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, adopted on the basis of a national referendum, provided enormous opportunities for a radical change in the appearance of our army, increasing the combat mobility of troops and continuing large-scale reforms aimed at further strengthening the defense capability of the state.
The modern rapidly changing and sometimes difficult to predict international military-political situation, which has changed dramatically and qualitatively today, the trends of its development against the background of various global threats mean how important it is to preserve our most valuable wealth – the peace and harmony that reign in our society.
The strategy “Uzbekistan – 2030”, adopted by the decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, clearly defines that further strengthening of the defense potential of our country and the development of our Armed Forces is one of the most important priority areas of state policy.
Of course, strengthening the country’s defense capability cannot be imagined without active international cooperation and strengthening the foundations of friendly and partnership relations with foreign countries, such as fraternal Turkmenistan, with which Uzbekistan has centuries-old ties of fraternal and good-neighborly relations.
Thanks to the strong political will of the Leaders of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, in recent years, Uzbek-Turkmen relations have risen to an unprecedentedly high level of strategic partnership.
Uzbekistan highly values and cherishes friendly relations with Turkmenistan. The enormous successes in the development of Turkmenistan, both within the country and in the international arena, are deeply impressive.
We in Uzbekistan are sincerely happy for the successes of Turkmen people. Uzbekistan always supports the constructive international initiatives of the Leadership of Turkmenistan and is ready to continue to closely cooperate with our Turkmen partners within the framework of various International Organizations.
Uzbek-Turkmen cooperation in the military and military-technical spheres is also developing very actively. The countries conduct mutual visits to discuss topical issues of bilateral cooperation in the military sphere. Systematic interaction is also carried out to train personnel in the system of defense departments.
In addition, the Ministry of Defense of Turkmenistan and the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Uzbekistan have established cooperation in the field of prevention and elimination of emergency situations.
The parties are constantly improving the regulatory framework for bilateral cooperation in this area. Thus, in October 2024, the parties ratified the Agreement between the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Ministry of Defense of Turkmenistan on cooperation in the field of defense, which created broad new opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation between the defense departments of the two countries.
In conclusion, let me once again express my deep gratitude to the Turkmen side for the support in organizing today’s event, thank you for your participation and wish us all fruitful work and every success.
Thank you for your attention!
Here is also the text of the report of the moderator of the briefing on defense reforms and measures to build the capacity of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Uzbekistan:
In the context of peaceful prosperity and development of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Armed Forces celebrate the thirty-third anniversary of their formation on 14 January.
This is a good opportunity to inform you about the reforms and measures taken by the Government to build the capacity of the national army. We have created our Armed Forces, which are small, mobile and well equipped with the most advanced weapons.
Today, it can be noted with confidence that the Armed Forces of the Republic of Uzbekistan at the present stage of their development are capable of reliably and efficiently ensuring the inviolability of our borders and the territorial integrity of the country, protecting the peaceful life of our people.
In the course of military construction, we proceeded from the principles of the peacefulness of the republic’s foreign policy, the defense orientation of the doctrine and the need to resolve interstate issues through peaceful political means.
The National Army was established in August 1991 after the independence of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The President is also the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and exercises overall leadership in ensuring State security, construction, training and deployment of military organizations.
The Armed Forces of the Republic of Uzbekistan were established on the basis of a Presidential decree dated 14 January 1992.
On 20 February, according to the Presidential Decree, the leadership of the units was entrusted to the Ministry of Defense of Uzbekistan.
There are five main periods in the development of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Uzbekistan, as indicated on the slides 1991-1995; 1995-1998; 1998-2001; 2001-2017, and 2017 to the present.
During the years of independence, the Uzbek army has gone through a difficult and at the same time glorious path. The Armed Forces have become a reliable guarantor of independence, peaceful and prosperous life, and the successful implementation of democratic reforms.
And I would like to focus on the reforms carried out in the Armed Forces in the period from 2017 to the present.
In 2017, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan approved an Action Strategy on five priority areas of Uzbekistan’s development in 2017-2021.
In the action strategy, the fifth direction was devoted to ensuring security and, in general, the main goal of the Action Strategy was to radically increase the effectiveness of ongoing reforms.
More than 40 legislative and regulatory acts, including the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Defense Doctrine”, have been adopted as part of the implementation of the Strategy of Action in the military sphere.
The defense doctrine is purely defensive in nature.
Our country builds relations with all countries based on the priority of national interests, taking into account the generally recognized principles and norms of international law, mutual benefit, equality and non-interference in the internal affairs of other States, and the peaceful settlement of all disputed issues.
It should be noted that the adoption of the document gave an important impetus to increasing the combat power of our Armed Forces.
The structures of the central bodies of ministries and departments of law enforcement agencies have been optimized, their managerial functions and tasks have been improved, and the National Guard of the Republic of Uzbekistan has been established.
Military districts, Air Defense and Air Force troops have been transformed, and 16 training centers in various specialties, paratrooper training bases, and mountain training centers have been established under the contract to improve the practical skills of military personnel.
Today, military personnel are trained at the Academy of the Armed Forces, the Chirchik Higher Tank Command and Engineering School, the Institute of Military Aviation, the Institute of Information and Communication Technologies and Communications, the Military Medical Academy, the Center for Training Junior Specialists and the relevant institutions of the State Security Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the National Guard, which meet international standards.
As part of the ongoing reforms in 2018, military administrative sectors were created in each region, the leadership of which is entrusted to the head of the local government authority.
In order to ensure the peaceful and stable development of Uzbekistan, extensive work has been carried out to improve the system of combat and operational training of the Armed Forces.
Well-equipped, mobile units have been created capable of performing the full range of tasks to ensure the security of our state, protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country, and the peaceful life of our citizens.
At a new stage of the country’s development, the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan for the Defense Industry was established in 2017.
The comprehensive measures have been taken to equip the army with new weapons and modern military equipment, such as communications systems, reconnaissance equipment, unmanned aerial vehicles, armored vehicles and air defense systems.
In order to educate the younger generation in the spirit of patriotism for the Motherland, the Watan Tayanchi children’s and youth movement was established under the Ministry of Defense in 2022.
As part of the ongoing reforms to strengthen the country’s security and defense potential, special attention has been paid to comprehensively strengthening the social protection of military personnel and their family members.
The practice of preferential mortgage lending for military personnel and employees of ministries and departments of the Armed Forces has been introduced.
In addition, in accordance with the decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2018, the Government approved the procedure for issuing recommendations for the admission of children from serviceman’s families to study at higher educational institutions on a quota basis.
In recent years, as a result of the large-scale reforms, the authority and potential of the national army have significantly increased.
The Armed Forces of Uzbekistan are actively developing cooperation with foreign partners.
During 2017-2024, eight bilateral and multilateral international treaties were signed and ratified by the Parliament on military and military-technical cooperation.
Separate plans for military cooperation with a number of foreign countries have been approved and are being implemented, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Germany, France, India, the United States, etc.
Based on bilateral agreements between the Ministry of Defense of Uzbekistan and foreign countries, joint exercises are being conducted with countries such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, India, Pakistan, Türkiye, and the United States in order to increase the level of combat training and study foreign experience.
Thanks to the reforms in recent years, the combat power of our national army has increased significantly. This is also confirmed by the fact that our servicemen take a worthy part in such international competitions and games as the Cambrian Patrol (Great Britain), Team Spirit (Pakistan), The Best Sniper Team (Türkiye), The Best Warrior (USA), in the Republic of Korea and have won honorary first and second places.
According to the Global Firepower Index-2025, Uzbekistan ranked 58th in the ranking of the world’s strongest armies, which covers 145 countries.
To realize the aspirations of our people for a free, prosperous, and powerful New Uzbekistan, the Government has adopted the “Uzbekistan 2030” Strategy, prioritizing the rule of law, security, and stability.
Under the direct leadership of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, comprehensive military development initiatives are underway to effectively bolster the country’s defense capabilities and support the achievement of Uzbekistan’s strategic development goals.
Thank you for your attention!
Here are some photos from the event:
