Distinctive political course, which Turkmenistan has moved on during more than 20 last years, became the subject of a lively discussion at the briefing that took place on December 1st at the Noyan Tapan Information Centre. Embassy of Turkmenistan in Armenia conducted this event. 

 

The briefing was focused on December 12, which is one of the key dates in the history of the sovereign Turkmen state. On this day in 1995, the 50th Session of the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution that secured for Turkmenistan the status of a permanently neutral state. And in current year, on the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly, the world community, with full consensus, adopted resolution initiated by Turkmenistan concerning establishment of the International Day of Neutrality. Thus, the Turkmen national holiday, December 12, became international. And the whole world will soon celebrate the International Day of Neutrality for the first time.   

 

“We are thankful to all member states of the Community of Nations, for their support of our initiative”, said Muhammetniyaz Mashalov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Turkmenistan in Armenia. “In truth, it is a really fundamental event in the history of the sovereign Turkmen state. Our President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov comprehensively formulated its importance both for us and for the whole world: “It was a wise and visionary decision. Time has shown its accordance with the UN long-term goals, and with the interests of development of states and peoples of the world in conditions of peace and security.”  

 

 According to Mr. Mashalov, this decision testifies to the high prestige of Turkmenistan in the international arena, to recognition of its significant contribution to reach of global peace and security. “Turkmenistan”, he said, “has become a reliable ally and effective partner of the UN in preserving and maintaining political stability in the Central Asian region, in developing of good-neighborly friendship and cooperation”.

 

Turkmenistan builds its domestic and foreign policy on principles of the model, called `positive neutrality. This model’s fundamental theses are peacefulness, non-interference in the affairs of other states, respect for their sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-participation in the international military organizations and treaties. Neutrality has become an optimal model of implementation of plans and purposes in the form, in which foreign policy is being built as much harmonically and naturally as possible, Ambassador Mashalov stressed. 

According to him, in this context, creation of the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy in Ashgabat in December 2007 seems especially noteworthy. The mission of the Center is to facilitate dialogue between Central Asian governments in the search of solutions for emerging problems, to remove potential threats, to encourage peace e efforts and initiatives. On November 17, 2017, at the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly the resolution “The Role of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia” was adopted, which was co-authored by 57 member states of the Community of Nations, including Armenia. 

 

“Armenia respects the neutral status of Turkmenistan”, stressed Shavarsh Kocharyan, RA Deputy Foreign Minister. “We appreciate the role that Turkmenistan is playing in ensuring peace and security in the region and globally. As for the bilateral Turkmen-Armenian contacts, their calendar this year was enriched with another important date – the 25th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries. During this period, progressive development of cooperation in various fields has been ensured, and conditions for disclosure of potential of the interstate cooperation has been created”. 

 

On Kocharyan’s opinion, current year in this aspect became saturated with a number of important events, including the visit of President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to Armenia, the participation of RA President Serzh Sargsyan at the opening ceremony in Ashkhabad of the Vth Asian indoor and Martial Arts Games, and the 8th meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation, held in Yerevan,. “All of this gave a new impetus to our countries’ interaction”, Kocharyan said. 

Permanent positive neutrality that Turkmenistan has promoted since 1995 is a unique phenomenon in the history of world diplomacy. Aram Grigoryan, the first Armenian Ambassador in Turkmenistan, gave such estimation of the foreign policy of this country.

 

“This status strongly protected the country from military interventions, from necessity of participation in military blocs, giving impetus to the peace state-building”, Grigoryan mentioned. “Due to this status Turkmenistan has repeatedly become an arena of dialogue between the warring parties. For example, regarding negotiations aimed to reach peace in Tajikistan. It was not an easy job, indeed, but after all on June 27, 1997, the agreement between the warring parties was signed, and it became possible to put an end to the civil war in Tajikistan”,

Timur Urazaliev, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Kazakhstan to Armenia, welcomed the fact that the countries of Central Asia are today increasingly entering their initiatives to the agenda of such authoritative international structures as the UN is. This trend indicates a natural historical formation of sovereign states in the region.

 

“We note emergence of new phenomena at the regional scale”, Urazaliev emphasized. “Our countries put forward issues considered most urgent for Central Asia, including water problematic, nuclear safety, fight against radicalism and extremism, etc. These issues are included in the nearest agenda of the UN Security Council of the, and the forthcoming discussion, I think, will be also useful for our partner states, which, in general, are facing with similar challenges”.  

 

By Ashot Gareginyan

 

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