Turkmenistan, 2004

I should like at the outset to express my sincere

gratitude for the honour to speak from this rostrum and

to convey, on behalf of the President of Turkmenistan,

Mr. Saparmurat Niyazov, best wishes for peace and

prosperity to the peoples of all nations. I should also

like to congratulate the President of the General

Assembly on his election to that lofty and responsible

post and to wish him every success in fruitfully guiding

the work of the fifty-ninth session.

The events taking place in the world today, which

are influencing the development of every region and

every country, attest to the dramatic changes that have

occurred in the meaning of the historical process under

new conditions. Our ability to elaborate and implement

qualitatively new approaches to interaction within the

community of nations will largely determine the degree

to which security and stability are maintained

throughout the world. In that context, an immutable

principle and basic direction for Turkmenistan’s

foreign policy remains the strengthening and

development of close cooperation with the United

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Nations. I should like to take this opportunity to thank

the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for his

constant support for the peace-loving foreign policy of

Turkmenistan.

We should note that among the priority areas of

our country’s cooperation with the United Nations are

maintaining international peace and security and

preventing or resolving conflicts through political

means and processes. With regard to those issues,

Turkmenistan has often become a centre where, under

the aegis of the United Nations and with the

participation of its Special Representatives, effective

negotiations have been carried out to resolve complex

situations that have taken place in the countries of our

region.

During the present general debate, it has been

noted several times that one of today’s major threats to

international security and stability is terrorism.

Following the events of 11 September 2001,

Turkmenistan was one of the first countries to support

the United Nations initiative of establishing an

international coalition to fight terrorism, in which we

have taken an active part.

In that context, Turkmenistan not only firmly

condemns any act of terrorism in any part of the world,

but also is undertaking specific legislative and practical

measures aimed at fighting that evil and preventing it

from spreading. That is particularly relevant, given that

the security conditions of the world community are

determined by each country’s actual contribution to the

strengthening of its own internal stability, together with

cooperation at the collective level. This is why we

believe that there is a need today to draw up a

qualitatively new dimension, both between individual

States and within the framework of their joint activity

in international organizations.

Despite the fact that terrorism is multifaceted, its

nature is one and the same, and at its roots lie a

doctrinaire egoism which has been raised by its

followers to the highest level of evil, intolerance and

cruelty. Terrorism recognizes no State and no

nationality; it is not affiliated with any religion or

culture. This is why the war on terrorism and terrorists

must be conducted through joint efforts.

It is precisely through the close coordination of

actions of members of the international community, on

the basis of norms of international law, that the

establishment of a situation in the world can be

conducted in such a way that any manifestation of

terrorism will be punished and, as a result, it will be

possible to take effective measures to combat it. Here,

Turkmenistan favours effective implementation of a

broad-ranging system of measures to combat terrorism,

including active cooperation in finding and bringing to

justice the organizers and perpetrators of terrorist acts.

To counteract international terrorism, and to

protect the rights and freedoms of our citizens, we

must be able to forestall each of its manifestations and

counter it, not only through universal unanimous

condemnation, but also through a high degree of

professionalism of law enforcement agencies, and also

through the active use of the entire international legal

array of instruments drawn up within the framework of

the United Nations.

Further involvement of the role of the United

Nations is becoming clearer against the backdrop of

the present development of both global and regional

processes that require the concentration of collective

efforts and the adoption of decisions, taking into

account a multitude of interests. Here, the fundamental

principles of international cooperation enshrined in the

Charter and the criteria tested by time concerning

maintaining the balance of interests are a high priority

for us. By following such a policy, Turkmenistan

always attempts fully to utilize the potential of the

community of nations and institutions in proposing and

implementing foreign policy initiatives.

We see vast potential in the close partnership

with the United Nations and its specialized structures

in implementing joint programmes and projects. In this

context, we would like to express our gratitude for

cooperation extended to us by such United Nations

specialized agencies as the United Nations

Development Programme, UNICEF, the Office of the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the

United Nations Population Fund. Through interaction

with these agencies, the Government of Turkmenistan

is implementing a number of major projects that are

yielding specific results in the social sphere, health

care, education, the environment, combating illicit drug

trafficking and a number of other areas. Turkmenistan

will continue to maintain close ties with these United

Nations agencies in the quest for and implementation

of new possibilities for cooperation.

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A clear example of the strategic partnership of

Turkmenistan with the United Nations was the signing

of our country’s Government in February of 2004 of

the United Nations Development Assistance

Framework to promote development for 2005-2009. A

significant feature of this document is the fact that it

fully coincides with the national priorities and interests

of Turkmenistan, as defined by the National

Development Strategy of our country for the period

until 2020. It aims at resolving global objectives within

the framework of the United Nations Millennium

Development Goals.

One of the important components of

Turkmenistan’s policy is the human dimension. Our

country is conducting joint work with international

organizations in this area. During the years of

independence, we have worked to create genuine

guarantees for the implementation of personal,

political, economic, social and other rights of citizens.

The personal rights of citizens have been specifically

reflected in Turkmenistan’s laws and law enforcement

practice concerning such matters as the abolition of the

death penalty, the banning of searches on citizens and

the banning of the adoption of ad hoc decisions in

pressing criminal charges. Through practical action,

Turkmenistan reaffirms the implementation of these

legal acts.

Every year in our country, by presidential decree,

there is a widespread amnesty, the next to take place in

just a month. As a result, more than 9,000 people will

be amnestied.

Today in Turkmenistan there are no restrictions

whatsoever on travel of its citizens abroad. There is

guaranteed freedom of registration and activity of

religious organizations and groups, in accordance with

universally recognized international law, regardless of

the number of adherents or of their faith. A number of

very important legislative acts were adopted regarding

these issues, in accordance with which, at the present

time in Turkmenistan, there are various religious faiths

registered and functioning.

As for the human dimension, Turkmenistan has

intensified its work with the Office of the United

Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

(OHCHR). On our invitation, in March 2004,

Turkmenistan was visited by a group of experts from

the OHCHR, who, together with the Turkmen side,

drew up specific areas for cooperation and rendered

assistance in work on the further development of this

human dimension, among which was methodological

and legal assistance in the preparation of national

reports on United Nations conventions in the field of

human rights. We intend to continue our efforts

regarding these issues and are ready to cooperate with

all of the United Nations agencies and other

international organizations.

Against the backdrop of such effective

interaction, we are concerned that in 2003 the General

Assembly’s Third Committee considered a draft

resolution regarding human rights in Turkmenistan.

The proposal was made by representatives of several

countries without having visited Turkmenistan, without

having studied the situation on the ground, without

taking into account the significant initiatives of the

Government of Turkmenistan in this sphere and

without having first acquainted the Turkmen side with

its contents. Such attempts at a one-sided consideration

of serious questions is, in our view, unacceptable, and

it is not in keeping with constructive cooperation in

this sphere. The adoption of hasty decisions does not

make a positive contribution to constructive dialogue.

This is extremely important, particularly in the light of

the principle of mutual respect for States, one of the

dominating principles in the system of values professed

by the United Nations.

At the crossroads of the twentieth and twenty-

first centuries, our region, Central Asia, has moved

into the forefront of the international community’s

attention. How multilateral dialogue will take place on

problems of this region to a great extent will determine

the prospects for peace and security on a global scale.

Aware of its full responsibility to the

international community, Turkmenistan attaches utmost

importance to the role of the United Nations in

stepping up regional and interregional dialogue in

seeking solutions to potential problems. In this regard,

I should like to draw the Assembly’s attention to the

initiative of the President of Turkmenistan regarding

the creation of a Central Asian regional consultative

council of heads of State.

The issue here is about the creation of an inter-

State body at the highest level for holding regular

consultations and working out joint decisions on

relevant issues that directly affect the fate of the

countries of the region and the real needs of the people

that inhabit those regions. These are, first of all, issues

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of cooperation in trade and the economy, energy

supply, border trade, transportation and humanitarian

issues. In our view, this mechanism for multilateral

consultations at the head-of-State level would promote

the development and implementation of agreed actions

by parties on the basis of mutual interest and would

allow for creation of the most effective system of

rational interaction.

In October 2003, in Ashkhabad, the first round of

a forum on conflict prevention and sustainable

development for Central Asia took place under the

aegis of the United Nations and the Organization for

Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). In the

context of strengthening the effectiveness of

instruments of preventive diplomacy, we believe it to

be useful and advisable to create a United Nations

centre on preventive diplomacy in the Central Asian

region. Turkmenistan is ready to provide full assistance

towards locating it in our nation’s capital.

An important stage in intensifying regional

cooperation was the preparation of the trans-Afghan —

or Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan — gas pipeline

project. Turkmenistan welcomes the interest of large

companies and financial and industrial groups in that

major project. Here, I would like to note that the

United Nations, using its broad international authority,

could have worked out a system of political and legal

guarantees to ensure conditions favourable to the

project.

It is important to recall that in the past

Turkmenistan proposed, from this rostrum, an initiative

to formulate and adopt under the aegis of the United

Nations an international convention on a regime

governing the functioning of inter-State pipelines, and

associated guarantees. We believe that such a

document would make it possible to create a

dependable political and legal mechanism to ensure the

transportation of raw materials to world markets.

On the question of implementing a secure

development strategy and enhancing cooperation in the

region, I would like to underscore issues of

international cooperation regarding the Caspian Sea.

These relate first and foremost to the exploration of the

Caspian Sea’s richest fields of hydrocarbon resources

and are linked not only to the interests of the countries

of the region but to those of many other States and

transnational companies. Our policy is aimed at

merging those interests.

It is a well-known fact that the oil and natural gas

reserves of the Caspian Sea are the planet’s most

important energy resources for the twenty-first century.

Their reasonable and effective exploration and the

construction of pipeline infrastructure to transport them

to world markets would ensure significant economic

growth in many States and the well-being of their

peoples.

Effective economic activity on the Caspian Sea is

closely linked to ensuring stability in the Caspian

region. Turkmenistan favours making the Caspian Sea

a zone of peace, stability and sustainable international

cooperation.

We share the view that, in the twenty-first

century, the United Nations system needs rational

reform. We favour such United Nations reform, but

only in terms of strengthening and broadening the

Organization’s role in the world. In this context, an

important issue is ensuring maximum representation of

States in the United Nations, in the broader community

of nations, in the specialized agencies and in the

United Nations system in general. In addition, the

United Nations should make full use of the potential

and advantages of Member States. For example,

Turkmenistan is ready to provide United Nations

agencies with resources to expand their presence in the

region by opening headquarters and other major offices

of United Nations agencies in our capital.

The diversity and complexity of the tasks facing

the States Members of the United Nations is self-

evident. Carrying them out requires not only collective

efforts but also unambiguous awareness of the

individual role and responsibility of each country of

the international community. Turkmenistan adheres to

that logic of political behaviour, with the objective of

strengthening peace and promoting economic, social

and cultural development.