On May 12, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov, who was on an official visit to the Republic of Austria, met with Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Yukiya Amano. Speaking of cooperation with the IAEA, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov stated the fact that the Agreement on the application of safeguards in connection with the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and the Additional Protocol to the within-said Agreement were signed between Turkmenistan and the Agency in Vienna in 2005. This January the IAEA delegation paid a visit to our country, during which an interested exchange of opinions was held on priority aspects of bilateral cooperation. Taking advantage of the opportunity, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov expressed his sincere gratitude to the IAEA Board of Governors for accepting a membership application of the Government of Turkmenistan to this international organization and the recommendation for approval of our country’s candidature to the IAEA at its general conference to be held in Vienna in September, 2015. As for the energy policy of Turkmenistan, which possesses enormous reserves of hydrocarbon resources, the leader of nation has noted that it is based on the principles of diversification of energy supply routes to the world markets and equal mutually beneficial cooperation. The potential available makes it possible for our country to export natural gas to a number of Eurasian countries. Besides, the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project is being carried. The European direction is also topical and the growing dynamics of the relevant negotiation processes facilitates its advancement. As known, recently Ashgabat has hosted a quadrilateral meeting of the heads of sectoral departments of Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey and representatives of the European Union aimed to develop a single mechanism for ensuring delivery of Turkmen “blue fuel” to markets of Europe. In this connection, having stressed that natural gas, as a source of energy, is one of the most ecologically convenient types of raw stock, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov highlighted that the issues of electrification had been practically settled in Turkmenistan. Having noted that the running year is marked by the 20th anniversary of our country’s status of permanent neutrality, the leader of nation has invited the Director General of the IAEA to Turkmenistan to participate in the International Conference to be held in December to commemorate the event. Sincerely appreciative of the invitation, Mr. Yukiya Amano has highlighted that during all these years the Turkmen neutrality has been serving as an efficient instrument of peace-making efforts, strengthening of the atmosphere of trust and stability in the region. Thanking the President of Turkmenistan for his support rendered in the issues of bilateral cooperation, the IAEA Director General confirmed the Agency’s willingness to continue close cooperation with our country. As a party to a number of important Agreements on nuclear non-proliferation, on comprehensive nuclear test ban, on a nuclear-weapons-free zone in Central Asia, and other significant documents, Turkmenistan steadily fulfills its obligations, making a worthy contribution to enhancing universal peace and security, advancing disarmament processes.