On October 5, 2018, a meeting was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan on the implementation of initiatives of the President of Turkmenistan, announced at the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, rectors of a number of higher educational institutions of the country, political scientists, leaders and representatives of embassies and international organizations accredited in Turkmenistan, heads and representatives of national media, as well as foreign journalists accredited in the country.
During the meeting, Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan R.O. Meredov, outlining constructive initiatives that were voiced by President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov from the high rostrum of the United Nations General Assembly, stressed that they are currently working on their practical implementation.
It was further noted that Turkmenistan, in its foreign policy, gives priority to ensuring stability and security in the regional and global dimensions, advocating for strengthening the partnership on disarmament issues, in the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking, and other challenges and threats of our time. Regularly bringing these topics up for discussion at major international platforms, our country is taking concrete steps in this direction.
Among them is the provision of comprehensive assistance and support in the socio-economic revival of Afghanistan. Turkmenistan has always been committed to a peaceful settlement of the situation in a neighboring friendly country, advocating the creation of a reliable platform for a political negotiation process, and in this regard, further consolidation of the constructive efforts of the international community.
The UN Resident Coordinator, UNDP Resident Representative in Turkmenistan E.Panova, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Central Asia, Head of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia N.German, UNICEF Representative in Turkmenistan S.Nilofer, WHO Representative in Turkmenistan P.Karvovska and others also spoke at the meeting.
In the presentations, it was emphasized that the President of Turkmenistan in his speech made a special emphasis on the implementation of the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The implementation of the SDGs in Turkmenistan has a pronounced social orientation. All large-scale transformations and reforms of comprehensive nature that are deployed in Turkmenistan are closely interrelated with the Sustainable Development Goals.
A special emphasis was placed on the fact that the initiatives of the head of Turkmenistan, concerning cooperation in such strategic areas as energy and transport, are also intended to contribute to the practical implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. The relevance and demand of these proposals are clearly demonstrated by the relevant Resolutions of the UN General Assembly.
The speakers also noted that in modern conditions one of the key segments of the world economy that play an important role in solving the tasks of ensuring sustainable development is the transport and communications sector.
Putting forward concrete initiatives to form a multimodal transit-transport and logistics infrastructure, neutral Turkmenistan, historically located at the crossroads of Eurasian and intercontinental routes, in the heart of the now reviving Silk Road, together with foreign partners successfully implements large-scale projects in this direction.
Along with this, Turkmenistan pays great attention to the realization of such a goal as ensuring the availability and rational use of water resources. Speaking consistently from these positions, Turkmenistan has always stated that water and energy problems in our region should be solved on the basis of generally accepted norms of international law, taking into account the interests of each country and with the active participation of international organizations, primarily the UN.
Among the priority themes of cooperation between the countries of the region and the international community, the head of state also identified the problem of saving the Aral Sea, which can no longer be viewed as an internal, regional problem. In this regard, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov appealed to the Member States of the Community of Nations to support the initiative of Turkmenistan to develop a UN Special Program for the Aral Sea Basin and to separate the Aral issue into a separate area of activity of the Organization.
Summing up the speeches, Minister of Foreign Affairs R.O. Meredov said that in New York, Turkmenistan once again demonstrated its active position and far-sighted approach to finding balanced solutions to pressing global issues that directly affect the future of mankind.
