Turkmenistan views the current session of the United Nations General Assembly from the perspective of urgent and immediate use of the world community's potential and United Nation's levers of constructive influence for the purpose of reducing the high level of global and regional tension and searching for dialogue channels as the only acceptable method for solving emerging conflicts and contradictions, creating prerequisites for the elaboration of mutually responsible approaches to the post-pandemic development and re-establishment of degraded economic and logistic ties.
Our country hopes that during the forthcoming session we will witness the full-fledged continuation of the process of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular the following key components as environment, climate change, and development of low carbon energy production, health care, food and energy security.
As regards Turkmenistan the work of the 77th session of the General Assembly coincides with a very important jubilee date – the 30-year anniversary of Turkmenistan's membership in the United Nations. In this connection, while reaffirming its course toward strategic partnership with the World Organization and its belief that there is no alternative to the United Nations as the only world structure possessing universal legitimacy Turkmenistan will continue its efforts aimed at enhancing and strengthening its role in the world and reaffirming recognized international law rules and United Nations Charter as the conceptual political and international basis for inter-state relations.
Keeping this in mind Turkmenistan intends to continue active cooperation with the following subsidiary bodies of the United Nations of which the country is a member:
Turkmenistan views the preservation and maintenance of firm and long-lasting peace and security as the key issue of modern international policy. Turkmenistan believes that one of the key conditions for achieving this goal is the establishment of dialogue platforms on different issues as a part of the general process of multilateral constructive and equal communication among states.
In this context, while noting the importance of the United Nations resolution proclaiming Central Asia as the Zone of Peace, Trust and Cooperation that was adopted on 28 July 2002, and proceeding from the provisions of this document, Turkmenistan submits for the consideration of the United Nations General Assembly its proposal on declaring the year 2025 as The Year of Peace and Trust.
We also intend to renew the previously proclaimed initiative on establishing a standing Forum on problems of security, peace and development in Central Asia.
We assign an important role in maintaining peace and security to preventive diplomacy instruments. Taking into account the fact that in December 2022 we will mark the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia we intend to submit for the consideration of the General Assembly the draft of another resolution on the role of the Center highlighting noteworthy events of recent years including the proclamation of the Zone of Peace, Trust and Cooperation in Central Asia.
Nowadays reestablishment of trust and a culture of respectful dialogue is acquiring universal significance as one of the key conditions of a responsible and non-confrontational approach in the search for ways of finding mutual understanding and preserving the balance of interests when considering any contentious issues.
While promoting the philosophy of trustful dialogue in international relations we intend to initiate the elaboration of the United Nations draft resolution entitled “Dialogue as the guarantee of peace”.
We are convinced that the adoption of such a document will reaffirm the principled and unambiguous adherence of all UN member states to the peaceful way of resolving conflict situations on the basis of negotiations no matter how complex they may be.
Proceeding from the recognition by the United Nations General Assembly of neutrality as the factor in strengthening universal peace and security and the adopted resolution on the proclamation of December 12 as the International Day of Neutrality Turkmenistan will continue its active work with partners aimed at expanding the number of participants in the Group of neutrality friends in the name of peace, security and sustainable development.
In this connection, we plan to organize in September 2022 on the sidelines of the High-level week of the 77th session of the General Assembly a Ministerial level meeting of the Group for approving its constituent documents, including the procedures and order of work.
Turkmenistan assigns an important role in the strengthening of peace and security to the use of parliamentarian diplomacy tools and in this connection it promotes the enhancement of the role of women parliamentarians, their active involvement in the elaboration of state decisions in the sphere of international policy.
To this end, at the initiative of the Dialogue of Women of Central Asian states and in cooperation with the “United Nations-Women” entity we intend to establish in the United Nations headquarters an International forum of women-parliamentarians whose final documents will serve as the basis for the work under the UN General Assembly draft resolution on the role of women-parliamentarians in the strengthening of peace, security and development.
At present, the entire system of global security faces the most serious challenge - the food crisis that is rapidly engulfing an ever-growing number of countries and entire regions.
Under those conditions, it is necessary to take immediate and effective measures to overcome the emerging situation. With a view to maintaining stability of the global food market as well as supporting the UN Secretary General’s efforts we propose to hold an International forum on food security in Turkmenistan.
In view of the growing crisis phenomena in the sphere of energy deliveries to the world markets, instability in relations among the suppliers, transit countries and consumers which creates global risks for economic and social development we intend to emphasize the need to implement the provisions of the United Nations resolutions on the reliability and stability of energy supplies to the world markets that were adopted at the initiative of Turkmenistan in 2008 and 2013.
In this connection, we will continue our work on the implementation of the proposals previously submitted by Turkmenistan on the establishment of an open-ended International group of experts for the purpose of elaborating modern United Nations international legal tools aimed at regulating stable and reliable energy transit.
During the forthcoming session, Turkmenistan will continue active interaction with its partners aimed at full-fledged execution of agreements on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. We attach especially great importance to further strengthening the coordinating role of the United Nations General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council as well as to the mechanism of regular high-level Political forums on sustainable development and activity on the review of the progress of implementation of the Sustainable development agenda up to the year 2030.
In this connection, while supporting multilateral tools for monitoring the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals Turkmenistan will submit the second voluntary national review of the SDGs implementation during the High-level Political Form in 2023.
Within the framework of the Political Forum, we also intend to organize jointly with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) a separate Ministerial dialogue dedicated to the SDGs financing issues.
We will continue our work on promoting multilateral transport cooperation. Turkmenistan intends to summarize the results of the 2016 and 2021 Global conferences on sustainable transport and other recent transport forums including the Ministerial transport conference of land-locked countries held in Turkmenistan on August15-16 this year and submit for the consideration of the General Assembly a draft concept of the United Nations Special international programme on transport development.
In the same vein, Turkmenistan will sponsor the development of the elaboration of a draft resolution of the General Assembly on the Enhancement of the role of land-locked developing countries in the development and strengthening of global transport cooperation and the establishment at the United Nations of a Special working group for the promotion of the interests of land-locked countries in the transport sphere.
Proceeding from the positions of Turkmenistan on the issues of adaptation to and mitigation of climate change consequences submitted in November 2021 at the 26th session of the Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Framework convention on climate change (COP26) in Glasgow as well as the positions that were practically considered during multilateral consultations within the framework of the Climate Conference in Bonn in June this year Turkmenistan is carrying our preparatory work for the establishment in Ashgabat of a Regional Center for climate technologies for Central Asian countries at the Center and Network of Climate Technologies (CTCN) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
At the same time noting the National Level Contribution of Turkmenistan (NDC) adopted in May 2022 within the framework of its implementation of commitments under the Paris agreement Turkmenistan intends to intensify its efforts in the implementation of the goals set in this document including reduction of hot-house emissions and promotion of the initiative on Global methane pledge.
We will persistently and purposefully strive to promote the Aral Sea issues as a separate line of work of the United Nations. In May 2023 we intend to renew the talks on the draft resolution of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) on the establishment of a Special United Nations programme for the Aral Sea basin that will be aimed at the endorsement of the concept and structure of the future Special Programme. The above document is based on the provisions of the United Nations General Assembly resolution on Cooperation between the United Nations and the International Forum for the Salvation of the Aral sea (IFSA) that were adopted in 2018 and 2019.
Turkmenistan will renew its proposal for the elaboration under the auspices of the United Nations of global strategies on the development of low carbon energy in particular the preparation of an international Road Map for the development of hydrogen energy. To this end, within the framework of the preparatory work for the Ministerial meeting on hydrogen energy in Japan in October 2022, we plan to hold consolations on the above proposals with the United Nations Department on Economic and Social Issues, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) at the UN headquarters in New York, Vienna and Geneva.
We intend to continue our work on the consolidation of international community efforts in the fight against the spread of infectious diseases, minimization of their social and economic consequences and establishment of medical diplomacy tools.
While emphasizing that the World Health Organization (WHO) serves as the main platform of multilateral dialogue for the elaboration of coordinated responses to common challenges in the sphere of global health care we support the global concept of One Health elaborated by the WHO and will promote it within the framework of the Road map in support of health care and well-being in Central Asia for the period of 2022-2025.
During the forthcoming session, Turkmenistan will devote special attention to the humanization of international relations, strategic shift of the entire political, economic and environmental agenda towards the real issues, aspirations and legitimate interests of people, guaranteeing their natural rights to life, security, adequate food, access to drinking water and clean air, reliable sources of heat and electricity, qualitative and inexpensive education and medical care and so on.
We will continue to make our contribution to the upholding of the supremacy of law at the national and international levels, implementation of regional and global strategies, programmes and plans of action on ensuring human rights and freedoms adopted on the basis of international law documents of the United Nations.
In this context, we will step up our interaction with specialized entities of the United Nations in the humanitarian field proceeding from the accumulated experience of cooperation and focusing on consistent implementation of the humanitarian agenda.
Turkmenistan’s priority positions at the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly and submitted international initiatives and proposals are based on the unswerving adherence to the international law rules and Turkmenistan’s status as a permanently neutral state recognized by the United Nations.
Turkmenistan’s approaches to the pressing issues of world politics stem from the need for responsible and consolidated participation of the United Nations member states in their solution, enhancement of principles of equality and respect in international affairs, rejection of legal nihilism, dilution, devaluation or revision of the lofty mission of the United Nations and its momentous importance for mankind.
We call on the Member States of the Organization to responsibly consider modern challenges and formulate appropriate constructive approaches aimed at overcoming them.
