TURKMENISTAN AND UN: the new initiatives in cooperation
This year marks 31 years since Turkmenistan became a member of the United Nations. On March 2, 1992, the adoption of the decision of the UN General Assembly to admit Turkmenistan to this prestigious organization opened a glorious page in the annals of our new history. This historical event showed that the humanitarian principles of our people and the chosen foreign policy have wide support at the international level. The peace-loving policy of the Independent Motherland, which was built on the long-held dreams and hopes of our ancestors to build an independent state, opened the way for the world to penetrate deeply into modern scientific and technical developments and new horizons. This landmark date enabled Turkmenistan to participate equally in international affairs and was recognized by the United Nations as the first neutral state in the world.
From the day it was accepted as a member of the United Nations, Turkmenistan remains committed to the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the norms of its conventions. Joint projects with the specialized agencies of the UN to achieve national and international priorities and Sustainable Development Goals are being successfully implemented. In addition, our entire country continuously contributes to the strengthening of a culture of peace and trust, and to international efforts of a balanced and unifying nature. With the support of the UN, it shows special activity in the creation of organizational, political-economic, and international legal conditions for the sake of global well-being, ensuring environmental security, and strengthening global economic relations. In this regard, Turkmenistan is recognized as a reliable partner that faithfully complies with the international obligations arising from the UN Charter, actively participates in the implementation of its large-scale and long-term international programs, and makes a worthy contribution to strengthening global peace and sustainable development.
The rich experience gathered in long-term strategic cooperation between the UN and its agencies and Turkmenistan forms the basis of foreign policy work to be implemented in the country in the future. During the Revival of the new epoch of a stable state, relations with this organization, which are based on equality, mutual respect and long-term, are enriched with new content. The range of bilateral and multilateral friendly relations and multifaceted cooperation of Turkmenistan with neighboring and distant countries is expanding. The international consultative forums organized in the country make a valuable contribution to the adoption of positive solutions to the urgent problems of our time. The Resolution "2023 - International Year of Dialogue as a Guarantee of Peace" adopted by the UN General Assembly at the initiative of Turkmenistan calls for strengthening the culture of peace and trust among the peoples of the world. Recently, the establishment of UNESCO chairs at the Turkmen State University named after Magtymguly and the Turkmen State Pedagogical Institute named after Seyitnazar Seydi has added to the success of cooperation between the UN and Turkmenistan in the fields of science, education and culture.
By actively participating in prestigious international, regional and intergovernmental cooperation mechanisms, Turkmenistan makes a great contribution to the maintenance of a culture of peace and trust, and promotes the effective implementation of your balanced and harmonious international agenda. In this regard, the goal-oriented and long-term cooperation of Turkmenistan with the United Nations is provided on the basis of the strategic direction of the country's foreign policy. The Turkmen state is a supporter of the recommendations of the international community to strengthen the coordinating role of the UN in order to preserve the system of global actions aimed at ensuring peace and the balance of interests of all parties. Turkmenistan recognizes the important role of the organization as a determining factor in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The current state and opportunities of international politics have repeatedly shown the effectiveness of coordinated, systematic cooperation of all countries of the world in solving the important problems and fears of the time. Global and regional events of recent years clearly show that maintaining peace, security, and strengthening stability will remain important areas of the international agenda. Turkmenistan, being a responsible participant of the world community, unswervingly adheres to the internationally recognized legal status of permanent neutrality and strives to achieve the main goal - to create a global system based on the principle of integrity and indivisibility of security. In this regard, Turkmenistan's goals and tasks, its foreign political and foreign economic trends, and its balanced approach to solving various problems are harmoniously combined with the processes of world development. Consistency of the state policy, generality of the strategic tasks of the country's and foreign policy, interrelationship, harmony of all important directions of international life with national interests serve as important indicators that determine the effectiveness of the foreign policy of the Turkmen state aimed at active participation of the people in the political and diplomatic sphere.
As usual, Turkmenistan developed its priorities for the upcoming period ahead of the opening of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly. Turkmenistan's new initiatives will be aimed at further deepening the fruitful dialogue on the infrastructural aspects of global development, including political-diplomatic, energy, environmental and humanitarian issues, while actively continuing the implementation of the international commitments undertaken by the country. During the upcoming session, our state will continue to implement the international initiatives promoted by the President of Turkmenistan on global and regional issues.
This important document covers several key areas. Among them, the issues of ensuring peace and security have a special place. In this regard, Turkmenistan adheres to the principle of integrity of security, indivisibility and interdependence of its respective directions. No area of security can be long-term and full-scale without the provision of several other areas. In the work to be conducted during the 78th session of the General Assembly, Turkmenistan will be guided by the principles of neutrality, non-interference, commitment to resolving conflicts through peaceful, political-diplomatic means.
As it is known, over the years, Turkmenistan has promoted a number of important initiatives within the framework of cooperation with the UN and its specialized agencies and institutions. Today, Turkmenistan proposes to discuss the possibility of developing a global security strategy based on the principles of the UN Charter and the generally recognized norms of international law, taking into account the important trends of global development. This strategy involves the use of preventive diplomacy as a tool for conflict prevention and resolution; using the possibilities of neutrality to resolve disputes and conflicts through peaceful, political-diplomatic means; and based on the decisions of the UN General Assembly to declare 2021 as the "International Year of Peace and Trust" and 2023 as the "International Year of Dialogue as a Guarantee of Peace", it should include areas such as the restoration of a culture of credible dialogue.
In order to further strengthen multilateral cooperation within the Friends of Neutrality Group for the benefit of peace, security and sustainable development, it will be proposed to hold another high-level meeting of the Friends of Neutrality Group in Ashgabat in December 2023, as well as to organize an international conference of the Friends of Neutrality Group in December 2024 in Ashgabat. In this regard, Turkmenistan proposes to discuss the possibility of establishing a Neutrality and Security Institute in Ashgabat, which will be an effective venue for carrying out research and work on neutrality and related issues.
Within the framework of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, Turkmenistan expresses its readiness for further multilateral cooperation on the urgent issues of the global agenda by promoting important initiatives aimed at ensuring peace and security and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, which forms the basis of the work of the United Nations. based on principles of peace and justice.
Aygozel ASHIROVA,
the Lecturer of the Institute of International Relations
of the MFA of Turkmenistan.