The Institute of State, Law and Democracy of Turkmenistan has prepared a new issue of the periodical “Democracy and Law” journal, which comes out once a quarter. The central theme of the new issue was a landmark date - 27 years since the neutrality of the Fatherland.

The issue opens with a speech by Serdar Berdimuhamedov at an expanded session of the Cabinet of Ministers on December 9, 2022, on the eve of the International Neutrality Day.

In his speech, the head of state emphasized that in international relations, our country is guided by the basic principles that are the core of the national strategy, based on the neutrality and “open doors” policy. It includes the protection of the long-term interests of the Motherland, its closer integration into the world community, in addressing the important global issues, keeping the stability and security.

The message by the President of Turkmenistan reads our country proposes the most important international initiatives that contribute to ensuring peace, security and sustainable development at the national, regional and global levels, and makes great efforts for their practical implementation.

On December 6, 2022, at the 45th plenary meeting of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, the initiative put forward by Turkmenistan received support, and the Resolution “2023 is the International Year of Dialogue as a Guarantee of Peace” was unanimously adopted. In addition, at the session our country put forward the initiative to proclaim 2025 the “Year of Peace and Trust”.

The speech by the President Serdar Berdimuhamedov also reads, in its foreign policy activities, Turkmenistan considers the development and expansion of cooperation with international organizations as a priority.

In this context, it is underlined the Turkmen state provides constant assistance in the implementation of decisions and agreements adopted by those international organizations of which it is a member, and takes appropriate steps to implement long-term programs and plans adopted jointly with international organizations at the national level. 

As for the relations with the Community of Nations, our country always puts forward such strategically important areas as increasing the use of political and diplomatic tools, expanding the role of preventive diplomacy, energy security, and the development of international transport corridors, ecology and environmental protection, as well as the humanitarian sphere. 

For many years, Turkmenistan has been elected to the specialized bodies and structures of international organizations. In this area, our country has accumulated a huge positive experience. To use this experience in national and international interests, the corresponding work should be continued, Serdar Berdimuhamedov underlined. 

The head of Turkmenistan emphasized that our country and Government will continue to make every effort to implement a constructive and balanced foreign policy at a high level, significantly increase the international prestige of the Motherland and further build up mutually beneficial and equal partnerships with various states and international organizations.

The magazine includes UN Resolutions adopted by the Organization on the initiative of Turkmenistan.

The list includes the following resolutions: “Permanent Neutrality of Turkmenistan”, “The Reliable and Stable Transit of Energy Carriers and Its Role in Ensuring Sustainable Development and International Cooperation”, “Role of transport and transit corridors in ensuring international cooperation for sustainable development”, “Towards comprehensive cooperation among all modes of transport for promoting sustainable multimodal transit corridors”, “International Day of Neutrality”, “The Role of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia”, “World Bicycle Day”, “Cooperation between the United Nations and the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea” etc.

In addition, the issue includes an article by the UN Resident Coordinator in Turkmenistan D. Shlapachenko dedicated to the “Thirty years of strategic cooperation in sustainable development and in the area of human rights between the Government of Turkmenistan and United Nations”.

“It is gratifying to note that Turkmenistan and the UN are committed to a sustainable, long-term partnership in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, the promotion and protection of human rights and the implementation of the government’s international obligations in the area of human rights”, the article reads. 

It is underlined the accomplishments of the Joint Programme on “Improving the system of social protection through the introduction of community-based social services” launched in 2020.

The UN Resident Coordinator in Turkmenistan also emphasizes the importance of continuing bilateral productive cooperation and dialogue with our country to achieve the 2030 Agenda.

The new version of the Law “On State Youth Policy” is the subject of the article “Neutrality of Turkmenistan: youth policy and development of the education system”.

The main goal of the youth policy pursued under the leadership of the President Serdar Berdimuhamedov is to create favorable conditions for the successful moral and physical education of young citizens, personal development, and the implementation of the intellectual, creative and spiritual potential of the youth in the interests of the society and state.

It is an indisputable fact that the socio-economic and scientifical-and-technical development of the Motherland is closely related with the modernization of science and education systems, the active introduction of digital technologies. Based on this, comprehensive measures are being implemented at the state level for the consistent development of these areas.

The article “Improvement of legislation in the area of culture” is devoted to the cooperation of Turkmenistan with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - UNESCO, one of the aspects of whose activity is the assessment of the significance of objects proposed for inscription on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List, and Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

The publication emphasizes the importance of the adopted state programs and the modernization of relevant legislation to form a harmonious legal framework in this area, in particular, the protection of historical and cultural heritage. Several articles are also devoted to the national legislation of the country based on the principles of legality, priority, fairness and openness, such as “Protection of human rights in criminal proceedings” and “Customs legislation of Turkmenistan and protection of human rights”.

It should be noted that within the framework of the implementation of the state policy of Turkmenistan, the norms of international law are successfully implemented in the national legislation. It supports to ensure the legal basis for the socio-economic development of the country, as well as in the field of strict implementation of international obligations and human rights standards.

The issue includes an announcement on the scientific-and-practical articles competition for 2023 “Creative activity and human rights” and its results for the last year. 

The competition is aimed to aware the public on development of national legislation and the significance of the legal status of the permanent neutrality of Turkmenistan, guaranteeing the rights and freedoms of citizens in the legislative sphere, and activities to implement rights. The issue, published in Turkmen, English and Russian, concludes with the traditional “Chronicle”  column, which offers the reader an overview of meetings, conferences, round tables and other events held in Ashgabat with the participation of authoritative international organizations.