President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov made speech during the congress “2017Asian Games: International Cooperation in Sports in the name of Peace and Progress” in Avaza.
Having expressed the gratitude to the guests for accepting the invitation and visiting Turkmenistan to take part in the sports congress, the Leader of the Nation said that we were glad to welcome our dear guests – the President of the Olympic Council of Asia, leaders of the Asian Olympic Committees, famous sportsmen and coaches from different countries, travellers and public figures, diplomats and representatives of mass media in the Avaza national tourism zone.
“In our days, sports and Olympic movement should be aimed at consolidating interstate relations, promoting friendship, understanding and making peoples closer to each other. They have to support the UN in the successful implementation of the universal strategy of sustainable development”, - President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said.
“This congress is an obvious continuation of open and fruitful cooperation of Turkmenistan with other states of the world in different directions, including sports”, - the Head of the State highlighted.
The President of Turkmenistan expressed the confidence that the development of the world’s sports movement and its prospects would be evaluated throughout the event, ideas and proposals on its growth would be given and the most important directions of cooperation of different states, national Olympic committees, federations and associations of different sports would be outlined.
The Head of the State called the attention and support of sport cooperation by different non-governmental organizations and mass media as one of the most important objectives of the Congress. The current forum marks an important step of joint activity in the preparatory work for one of the significant sport event on the continent – V Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games to be held in the capital of Turkmenistan on September 17 – 27, 2017.
V Asian Games will be held under the motto “Sport. Inspiration. Friendship”. The fact that together with 45 Asian countries, 17 Oceania States will participate in the Games for the first time, is a distinguishing feature of these Games. The President of Turkmenistan expressed the confidence that the Games in such format would open new page in the history of the world’s sports movement and would promote its expansion and consolidation in the interests of millions of peoples in different parts of the planet.
The Head of the State noted that around 6,000 sportsmen competing in 21 sports would participate in the V Asian Games. Turkmenistan expects around 30,000 foreign guests, hundreds representatives of news media during the Games. All participants of the forthcoming competitions will feel the hospitality and cordiality of Turkmen people, whose traditions pay particular attention to the respect to guests.
Foundation stone of the Olympic Village was laid in Ashgabat on November 5, 2010. Total cost of the project is almost 5 billion US dollars, the Leader of the nation said, having noted that around 40 facilities including 16 sport objects for competitions of national and international level in different sports have been built on the territory of 157 hectares. The hotels for the sportsmen and participants, living estates, canteens, medical, cultural and entertainment facilities provided in accordance with the requirements of International Olympic Committee for multifunctional sport facilities have been built.
The head of the State noted that the complex includes indoor and open swimming and jumping pools, indoor, two training and 10 open tennis courts. There are also grounds for bowling, badminton and table tennis, indoor cycling track, complex sport grounds with running tracks, gyms, fields for futsal and track and field athletics, fencing and boxing rings, game sports and gymnastics grounds as well as medical rehabilitation centre.
“The ambitious V Asian indoor and Martial Arts Games mark the qualitatively new stage in the history of Turkmen sports development”, - the Head of the State noted. “At the same time, real opportunities for making the country one of the leaders of international sport cooperation on the continent, efficient realization of sport diplomacy of Turkmenistan as a component of foreign policy aimed at comprehensive and efficient integration in the system of international Olympic movement are opening up”.
The President of Turkmenistan expressed belief that under this process, the country would expand the cooperation in the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP), the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for Physical Education and Sport and international non-governmental organizations, first of all, with International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Council of Asia as well as with international and regional organizations of different sports.
The Leader of the Nation mentioned the Turkmenistan started establishing systematic cooperation with the World’s Doping Agency to protect the purity of Turkmen sports and coordinate the doping control in sports. For this purpose, the National Anti-doping agency was founded in Turkmenistan.
“Turkmenistan put high humanistic meaning in the concept of international sports cooperation”, the Head of the State emphasized. “We correlate sports movement, adherence to the Olympic ideals with the Sustainable Development Goals, which are aimed at revealing human potential, execution of global objectives in public health and education spheres, establishment of the conditions for harmonious spiritual and physical development of individuals.
“The development of sports and physical culture is a priority direction of the state policy. The country adopted the National programme for support and development of sports and physical culture in 2011 – 2020 and has carried out large-scale work to increase the awareness of the population in such issues as nutrition, counteracting tobacco use, popularisation of sports and healthy lifestyle among all categories of the population. At present moment, all government and public institutions are involved in this work, coordination committees for different programmes in public health sphere are established.
“Large sports complexes and education facilities to train sports personnel are under construction. 119 sports schools and 128 sports facilities are planned to be built in Turkmenistan till 2020.
“Together with the world’s community, Turkmenistan widely observes the World’s Health Day, which was included into the register of remarkable events of the national calendar that promotes popularization of healthy lifestyle and involvement of people into practicing physical culture and sports.
“Undoubtedly, the decision to entrust Turkmenistan to hold the largest continental games would be impossible without peace-loving, neutral, constructive and true goodwill foreign policy steadily pursued by our country. Indeed, the state, the foreign-policy course of which prioritizes peace, friendship, cooperation, and respect for peoples, their cultures and traditions and which reflects these concepts in all spheres of its international activities, including sports, has all the reasons to host the event, which will gather the representatives of dozens of states and peoples of the world.
“There is another aspect, an internal one, which however, directly relates to the decision to hold the Asian Games in Turkmenistan. This is about the atmosphere of respect, international consent and confessional harmony, which is inherent to our country. There is good saying “Sports is beyond the politics”, - the Head of the State mentioned, having highlighted that the politics cannot exist without the sports already. The sports is to be an instrument of friendship and understanding between the peoples.
Today, unacceptance of racism, xenophobia and extremism is one of the slogans of the world’s sport, which is firmly built in the ideology of international sports movement. It is educated from the childhood in Turkmenistan, in schools, universities, army and demonstrated in hospitality and cordiality of our compatriots toward the representatives of foreign countries regardless of their nationality and believe, - the Leader of the Nation highlighted. Our country proves its commitment to high humane ideals of international sport movement.
The Head of the State expressed the confidence that the sports is summoned to be the most important component of international cooperation in the modern world and to make considerable contribution to formation of atmosphere of trust, respect and mutual understanding.
The head of the State made special mention that Turkmenistan confidently enters the number of the states able to organize and hold largest sport events. The forthcoming Games will be bright evidence of the achievements of our country, complex and universal character of steady movement to the heights of world’s development and commitment to the Olympic ideals.
“We are proud of the trust of the Asian Olympic Council delegated our country to hold these Games”, the President of Turkmenistan said, having noted that all efforts would be taken to conduct V Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games 2017 on high level and all the participants feel the hospitality and cordiality of our people in Turkmen land.
