BREIFING AT MFA TURKMENISTAN ON THE OUTCOMES OF THE SUMMIT OF NON-ALIGHMENT MOVEMENT

On October 28 2019, a briefing took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, which was dedicated to the outcomes of the 18th Summit of Non-alignment movement held on October 25-26 this year in Baku city.  

Briefing was attended by heads and representatives of diplomatic missions and representatives of international organizations in Turkmenistan, representatives of local and foreign mass media accredited in Turkmenistan.

During the briefing the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan R.Meredov, UN Permanent Coordinator in Turkmenistan Mrs. E.Panova, and Special representative of UN Secretary General, Head of UN Regional Center for preventive diplomacy for Central Asia Mrs. N.Gherman delivered speeches. 

Head of foreign policy agency of Turkmenistan introduced participants of the briefing to the main initiatives voiced in the program speech of President of Turkmenistan esteemed Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov from the rostrum of NAM summit. 

It was noted that the political statement of President included assessment of the current state of the affairs in the world and serious proposals were announced, which are targeted at settlement of a number of pressing issues on the global agenda. 

It was noted that Baku Summit gave an opportunity to consider in a constructive manner the role and place of Non-Alignment Movement in the contemporary world, to discuss issues relating to realization of its goals and objectives with due regard for current realities and perspectives of long-term development of international cooperation in general. That’s why, it not by accident that the motto of the forum was «Bandung principles to ensure concerted and adequate response to the challenges of the contemporary world».  

Minister noted that above mentioned pivotal principles that include respect for the fundamental rights of human, goals and principles of UN Charter, respect of sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations, encouragement of mutual interests and cooperation, respect for justice and international obligations, settlement of all international disputes by peaceful means in accordance with the UN Charter and a number of directions laid the foundation of the foreign policy course of neutral Turkmenistan since early years of independence.  

In this regard special stress was made on the initiative of Turkmenistan on declaring the year 2021 – International year of peace and confidence that was supported by UN General Assembly through the resolution adopted on September 12, 2019 in co-authorship of 73 member-states of United Nations.  

Crucial initiative of President of Turkmenistan that was put forward in the course of the Summit is calling for recognition of the economic sovereignty of the nations and states. In this context it was noted that Turkmen side considers as appropriate the opening of the wide international dialog on this topic with subsequent development and adoption of the corresponding documents in the framework of the Non-Alignment Movement and other international structures.

It was mentioned that in the speech of President of Turkmenistan at the Baku summit new impetus was given to the topic of energy security.

The novelty is that Head of Turkmen state was standing for formation of the global system of energy security based on the just and transparent principles, equal access to the sources of energy and means of their delivery.

That’s why, submitting the new resolution for consideration of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly, which is dedicated to the issues of reliable and stable transit of energy carriers, special emphasis will be made on the principles of sustainability of the international energy system.  

Special attention was also given to the issue and was touched upon by head of state in his statement. It is about the need for the unanimous work of the states of the Non-Alignment movement in realization of the Sustainable Development Goals in its segment of food security.

Therefore Turkmen leader was advocating for unity, decisiveness and firmness of the positions of non-aligned countries in consideration of issues connected with provision of access of the states and regions to the food resources and provision of guarantees for adequate nutrition as an integral right of any person.   

In this connection it was noted that Turkmenistan plans in the near future to discuss with all concerned partners the specific directions of interaction of Non-Alignment Movement with the Food and Agriculture Organization of UN – UN FAO and UN (WFP) World Food Program.  

President of Turkmenistan was also talking on more accentuated cooperation of the member states of Non-Alignment Movement on the issues relating to the climate change. In this connection, it was underlined that consolidation of efforts aimed at implementation of the 2010 Global Agenda and Paris Agreement is becoming critical. 

Touching upon this topic, the following words of the President of Turkmenistan said during the Summit of NAM were quoted: «Being here, in the capital city of one of the Caspian littoral states, I could not avoid mentioning global significance of the preservation of the Caspian Sea, its ecology and unique biodiversity. During the first Caspian Economic Forum held in August this year in Turkmenistan, our country brought forward the idea to work out a new Caspian environmental program as a complex of nature-protection measures designed to provide rational use of rich natural resource of the Caspian Sea. We will initiate a broad dialog on this topic and hope for all-round support of Non-Alignment Movement».

Head of foreign policy agency of Turkmenistan R.Meredov also informed the participants of the briefing on the outcomes of the work visit of the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to Japan on 21-23 October 2019. It was informed that during the visit Turkmen-Japan business forum and a number of bilateral meetings were held on the highest level. As a result of the meetings, a solid package of documents was signed.

In addition, participants of the briefing were informed on the result of the official visit of Prime Minister of Malaysia Dr. Mahathir Mohamad to Turkmenistan on 26-28 October 2019.