Today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted a regular meeting of the National Commission of Turkmenistan for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which was attended by heads and representatives of this commission, relevant ministries and departments of the country, and the media.

The main topic of the agenda was the results of the Commission’s work for the first half of 2022, as well as plans for the on-coming period.

Information on the work carried out during the reporting period in accordance with the instructions and assigns of the President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov, as well as the tasks outlined in the Commission’s Plan for 2022 and the Plan of Joint Activities with UNESCO for 2021-2023 was also provided.

It was noted that since the beginning of the year, numerous online meetings, webinars and consultations with UNESCO and its regional divisions have been held, to consider upcoming trends of fruitful cooperation in the field of science and education, culture and ecology. On May 13-14, the delegation of Turkmenistan visited the city of Bursa (Republic of Turkey), where it took part in a meeting of the national commissions for UNESCO of the TURKSOY member countries.

The monograph “Turkmenistan–UNESCO: let’s preserve monuments together” has been prepared as a guide for the international program “Memory of the World”.

The event dedicated to the 300th anniversary of Makhtumkuli Fragi was organized in the first decade of June at Makhtumkuli etrap of Balkan velayat, within its framework it was held the conference “Şygyryýet äleminiń öçmejek nuri”.

In the same etrap, appropriate work was carried out to add the rock inscriptions preserved here to the UNESCO international list “Memory of the World”.

Currently, documents prepared by Turkmenistan on the inclusion of Akhal-Teke horse breeding art, traditions of horse decoration, silk production, and others in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO are being considered and studied.

The discussion of the multilateral dossier “Turanian deserts of the Temperate zone” with the participation of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in the framework of the UNESCO Program “Man and the Biosphere” is also continuing.

At the meeting, it was emphasized that preparations for the opening of UNESCO chairs in higher educational institutions of the country are currently underway. Work is also being intensified to include a number of secondary schools of the country in the UNESCO Association of Schools.

Recently, the opening ceremony of a new UNESCO club called “Languages of the World” was held at the Dovletmammet Azadi Turkmen National Institute of World Languages. In the near future, it is planned to create the same club at the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.

There was an information about the inclusion of Ashgabat in the UNESCO Global Network of Creative Cities in the Design category, the achievements and further steps in this direction were discussed.

It was emphasized that Turkmenistan’s accession to the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage opens up broad prospects for bilateral partnership. Our country is carrying out large-scale work to preserve historical, cultural and natural values being an integral part of world civilization for future generations.

Within the framework of the above-mentioned Convention, the National Commission of Turkmenistan is preparing a national dossier on the inclusion of the Koitendag mountain ecosystem in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The meeting heard a report on the implementation of upcoming work on the preparation of this transnational nomination.

The meeting participants paid attention to cooperation and intensification of Turkmenistan’s interaction with UNESCO in sports and physical education.

The meeting also touched upon such topical topics as strengthening the role of our country in major UNESCO structural units, accession to the UNESCO Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications related to Higher Education in the European Region, expansion of international scientific cooperation, opportunities for cooperation in digital projects and information exchange.