Today, the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov received the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for Central Asia, Head of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) Ms. Natalia Gherman, who is completing her activities in Ashgabat.

Expressing gratitude for the opportunity in a personal conversation to discuss topical issues and vectors of further development of the established close fruitful cooperation, the diplomat, on behalf of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and on her own behalf, congratulated Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov on his election to the post of Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty and recognition as the National Leader of the Turkmen people, wishing great success in tireless work for the benefit of an independent neutral Turkmenistan. The Head of the Regional Center expressed sincere gratitude to Arkadag and the President of Turkmenistan for the comprehensive support of the work of the UNRCCA and wished success in working for the benefit of the independent neutral Homeland.

Welcoming Ms. Natalia Gherman cordially, Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov first of all thanked her for effective cooperation and great personal contribution to the successful development of partnership between Turkmenistan and the UN during her work as head of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia, and asked her to convey warm greetings and best wishes for health and well-being to the Secretary General UN Antonio Guterres.

Wishing Natalia German great success in her new position as Executive Director of the Executive Directorate of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee, the National Leader of the Turkmen people noted that she would be always welcome in Turkmenistan as a guest or official representative of the UN.

The development and strengthening of a multifaceted strategic partnership with the United Nations is one of the key vectors of Turkmenistan’s foreign policy, Chairman Halk Maslakhaty highlighted, noting with satisfaction that, based on the accumulated long-term experience of positive cooperation, at the present stage this traditional dialogue expands its horizons, covering new directions and topical issues of global development.

As a country with the status of permanent neutrality, twice recognized by the member states of the United Nations, Turkmenistan plays an active role in the international arena and has been fruitfully cooperating with the Community of Nations for many years, the National Leader of the Turkmen people said.

During the conversation, it was noted that over the years of cooperation, our country has become a reliable ally and strategic partner of the UN in preserving and maintaining stability, developing good neighborliness and friendship in the region.

Today Turkmenistan is recognized on the world stage as a state making a significant contribution to strengthening peace, international stability, and sustainable development. Taking an active position in developing balanced solutions to topical issues and problems of our time, the country is taking concrete steps in this direction, striving to put its peacekeeping and creative potential at the service of all mankind, which corresponds to the high ideals of the United Nations.

As Ms.N.Gherman noted, the National Leader of the Turkmen people received great support for his peace-loving initiatives and proposals on important contemporary problems in the region and within the framework of the United Nations.

The initiative to create the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia belonged to the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, who began the process of creating a completely new model of cooperation in a strategically important region of the world. The realization of this idea was facilitated by the awareness of the need and expediency of such a Center on the part of the UN and regional associations, as well as the states of Central Asia.

Thus, for the first time in the history of Central Asia, a regional office appeared, which was intended to become a factor contributing to the intensification of joint decision-making, relying on political and legal instruments and the high authority of the UN, its organizational and political means.

As the diplomat noted, Turkmenistan is distinguished by a qualitatively new, comprehensive approach to solving urgent problems of our time, is steadily committed to broad international cooperation in the name of global well-being and development. This predetermined the choice of the Turkmen capital as the headquarters of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia, which was unanimously supported by all countries of the region.

Cooperation between Turkmenistan and the UNRCCA is fruitful. In this context, Turkmenistan consistently implements a foreign policy course based on the principles of peacefulness, positive neutrality and effective international cooperation, plays an active role in joining efforts to develop solutions to important tasks related to achieving Sustainable Development Goals.

The creative initiatives of Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov in various fields, including the initiative to declare 2021 the “International Year of Peace and Trust”, are of great importance.

Work in this area is not limited to political aspects, but also consists in solving the problems of sustainable development, environmental protection, activation of educational programs and projects, development of cultural and humanitarian ties. Turkmenistan supports the expansion of the potential of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia and appreciates the work of the center as an important contribution to the creation of a solid foundation for peace, stability and security in Central Asia.

The transport system plays an important role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. In this regard, Turkmenistan is embarking on large-scale projects to create a multimodal transport, transit and logistics infrastructure at the regional and transcontinental level.

The Center’s interaction with other regional and international organizations coordinates efforts in solving important tasks, including maintaining security and stability in the region, countering global challenges and threats, and managing border water and energy resources.

Turkmenistan makes a worthy contribution to the strengthening of peace and stability in the region, the development of good-neighborly relations and cooperation, and the work of the Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia in this area was highly appreciated. As it was noted, this is the first specialized UN body to solve such a task, which can serve as a model for cooperation in other regions of the world.

In Central Asia, there is a positive development of regional cooperation and growing opportunities for further promotion of preventive diplomacy in all spheres, and the development of coordinated efforts to strengthen effective cooperation with the support of the Center.

The development of a special UN program for the Aral Sea region on the initiative of the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and the definition of the Aral Sea issue as a special area of work of the United Nations, including the creation of a new structure for environmental protection and global energy security, are very important, the diplomat said, noting also the relevance of initiatives to resolve the situation in Afghanistan peacefully.

In this regard, it was underlined that Turkmenistan makes a huge contribution to strengthening peace in the region and the world, maintaining good relations, creating an environment of trust and mutual understanding.

“The successful holding of the Dialogue of Women of Central Asian Countries, held on the initiative of our friend – Hero-Arkadag in the Avaza National Tourist Zone, and the high level of its organization is of great importance for bringing relations in this area to a new level, as well as holding it for the first time in the history of the region simultaneously with the Consultative Meeting of the heads of Central Asian states. This is proof that Turkmenistan attaches great importance to the implementation of policies aimed at achieving gender equality and ensuring the full participation of women in political, social and economic life,” Ms. Natalia Gherman continued.

This forum facilitated the achievement of positive results in the further promotion of international norms regarding the empowerment of women within the framework of Turkmenistan’s efforts to achieve gender equality.

The Dialogue of Women of Central Asian countries has become a high recognition and support of the desire of women of the countries of the region to participate in political, socio-economic, cultural and humanitarian affairs aimed at ensuring peace and stability.

Ms. Natalia Gherman once again expressed gratitude for her personal contribution to the coordination of the work of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia, whose goal is to unite the efforts of the world community in jointly countering threats and challenges of our time.

Emphasizing that in recent years, at the initiative of Turkmenistan, the UN General Assembly has adopted numerous resolutions on topical issues of the global agenda, Chairman Halk Maslakhaty highlighted among them the Resolution on declaring 2023 the International Year of Dialogue as a Guarantee of Peace, co-sponsored by 68 member countries of the Organization.

As the National Leader of the Turkmen people Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov emphasized, the essence of the “Dialogue – Guarantee of Peace” initiative is aimed at uniting the efforts of the international community in strengthening the traditions of peaceful and trusting coexistence of the peoples of the planet, working together on the basis of dialogue and cooperation to respond to global challenges, solve existing problems and build a better conflict-free future for the coming generations.

Noting that preventive diplomacy is the most important function and an integral part of Turkmenistan’s neutrality, Chairman Halk Maslakhaty emphasized that in this context, one of the important partners of our country is the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia, established in 2007 in Ashgabat in accordance with the decision of the UN General Assembly with the support of neighboring states and members of the Security Council.

The interlocutors stated that over the period since its establishment, the Regional Center has proved itself to be an effective platform linking the United Nations system with the countries of Central Asia in strengthening peace and trust, promoting the international peacekeeping agenda.

Turkmenistan actively cooperates with this UN structure in maintaining regional security, including the implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. Among the main areas of current cooperation is overcoming urgent threats and challenges, in particular, the pandemic and its socio-economic consequences.

The interlocutors were unanimous in their opinion that the adoption of the UN General Assembly Resolution “The role of the United Nations Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia” on the initiative of Turkmenistan on April 16, 2021 was a significant event for further strengthening the potential of the Regional Center, its international legal framework.

The National Leader of the Turkmen people noted with satisfaction that today a team of the UN Counter-Terrorism Directorate is working on the basis of the Regional Center, such mechanisms of multilateral preventive diplomacy as the Academy of Preventive Diplomacy, the Dialogue of Women of Central Asian Countries, the Task Force on Legal Aspects of Water and Energy Cooperation of Central Asian States and others have been created and are successfully functioning.

“I am convinced that the potential of the Center will continue to be in demand in such areas as energy security, sustainable transport, water issues, environmental protection, information and biological security, disarmament and non-proliferation issues,” Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty of Turkmenistan said.

Speaking about this, National Leader Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov once again thanked the head of the UNRCCA Ms. Natalia Gherman and in her person all the staff of the Regional Center for effective and fruitful activities, as well as a great contribution to the development of cooperation between Turkmenistan and the UN.

In her turn, Ms. Natalia Gherman expressed gratitude for the support rendered all these years in the successful work of the diplomatic mission headed by her and the creation of new cooperation platforms, wishing the Turkmen people happiness and success in implementing large-scale projects and initiatives in the era of the Revival of a new epoch of a powerful state.

In conclusion, the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Head of the UN Regional Center Ms. Natalia Gherman exchanged mutual good wishes, expressing confidence in the successful continuation and deepening of Turkmenistan’s multifaceted partnership with the UN and its institutions for the sake of stability, peace and sustainable development on the planet.