Turkmenistan, 2025

The Assembly will hear an address by His Excellency Sardar Bharti Mohammedov, President of Turkmenistan. I request protocol to escort His Excellency and invite him to address the Assembly. Distinguished Mr. President, distinguished heads and members of delegations, ladies and gentlemen, First of all, allow me to congratulate you on the opening of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly and to wish you a productive session. I would like to congratulate Ms. Annalena Baerbock on her election as President of the General Assembly and wish her every success. I would also like to express my sincere appreciation to Ambassador Philemon Yang for his skillful and effective leadership of the General Assembly during the previous session. Distinguished participants, the current state of global affairs, as well as the nature and trends of political, economic and social processes, objectively require a decisive shift towards coordinated interaction among states and international organizations in order to achieve our shared overarching goal, the maintenance of peace and security, the creation of conditions for further progressive development, and the preservation of the legal foundations underpinning the modern world order. It is precisely from this standpoint that Turkmenistan views the main objectives of the 80th session of the General Assembly, placing great hopes in its role in shaping a robust, balanced and secure global architecture. A key area of Turkmenistan's cooperation with the United Nations is ensuring international peace and security. Recognizing its responsibility as a permanently neutral state, Turkmenistan stands ready to take further practical steps to foster an atmosphere of cooperation, mutual understanding and respectful dialogue. These are the principal defining conditions for ensuring stability and sustainable development at the global and regional levels. We are convinced that one of the most effective mechanisms for advancing and achieving these goals today is the practical application of the principle of neutrality. In this regard, Turkmenistan has initiated the inclusion of a separate item on the agenda of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly entitled Neutrality for Peace and Security. We deem this important in light of the growing recognition by the international community of the significance of neutrality as well as the awareness of its potential and utility in the context of the UN's peace-building strategy. In line with this, during this session, Turkmenistan will propose a draft resolution entitled The Role and Importance of the Policy of Neutrality in Maintaining and Strengthening International Peace, Security and the Process of Sustainable Development. As you are well aware, this year has been proclaimed by the General Assembly the International Year of Peace and Trust on the initiative of Turkmenistan. This landmark event coincides with the anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations. In December this year, Turkmenistan will host a major high-level international forum on the Year of Peace and Trust. We see this as a tangible contribution to achieving the strategic goals of the United Nations and we look forward to broad and representative international participation. We believe that harmonizing national approaches to global development trends as well as to establishing and strengthening trust and mutual understanding should be systematic and consistent. In this regard, Turkmenistan is seeking to initiate the convening of a world summit on a culture of peace and trust. One of the key objectives of this summit would be to develop a global code of international trust. This would serve as a universal foundation for building relations between states based on the respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as on cooperation and joint efforts to address global problems. We believe that ensuring universal peace and mutual understanding is inseparable from the civilizational aspects of modern development and from the need to preserve and foster cultural and spiritual ties. In this context, Central Asia, which for centuries has played a clear role as a bridge spanning the civilizations of East and West, is now called upon to revive its historic mission to become a space for dialogue, cooperation and the convergence of values and world views. Therefore, during this session, Turkmenistan will propose, in cooperation with the United Nations, an international forum to be held entitled Central Asia, a space of peaceful coexistence. Countries of the region will participate as well as other interested states and international institutions. Turkmenistan will also submit a draft resolution to the General Assembly on proclaiming an international day of mediation. This would emphasize the importance of diplomacy and neutral platforms in preventing and resolving conflicts. One of our country's priorities remains our active involvement in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals and in strengthening cooperation in key areas such as transport and energy. As Turkmenistan is one of the centers of multilateral dialogue on these issues, we will continue to contribute to establishing a fair, balanced and inclusive international development system. During this session, Turkmenistan will initiate the proclamation of a United Nations Decade for Sustainable Transport for the period 2026-2035 and will submit the relevant draft resolution. We are convinced that this will help to consolidate the efforts of the international community in developing transport corridors, enhancing their sustainability and ensuring accessibility for all countries. Our country will also submit a draft resolution to the General Assembly entitled The Key Role of Reliable and Stable Energy Connectivity in Ensuring Sustainable Development. At present, one of the priority issues on the development agenda is the digital transformation. We are convinced that this transformation must be balanced. It must reflect the realities and legitimate interests of all states, including the developing world, and also must be free from politicization and bias. In this regard, Turkmenistan intends to put forward an initiative to establish a world platform on digital integration. This is to be based on the principles of equality, trust and on preventing the use of information and communication technologies to harm peace, security and sustainable development. During the 80th session, Turkmenistan will continue its work on environmental and climate issues. It will strive for them to be taken into consideration systematically as they are basic components of ensuring security and we will advocate for the establishment of multilateral mechanisms to monitor and respond to climate, environmental and man-made disasters. Turkmenistan will seek to bring about a regional center to combat desertification for Central Asian countries. It is our belief that the establishment of such a center would contribute to building regional capacity to strengthening cooperation in the field of environmental protection and would also make a significant contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in combating climate change and protecting land-based ecosystems. Our country will promote the Caspian Environmental Initiative, proposed at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, which is intended to become an international platform to preserve the Caspian Sea ecosystem, an important step in this direction is the Caspian Environmental Forum, which we propose holding in 2026. We are convinced that now it is especially important to strengthen the role of the UN in fostering broad humanitarian cooperation, in promoting rapprochement and mutual understanding among peoples and in overcoming value and spiritual barriers as well as engaging effective channels of cultural diplomacy. To develop intercultural dialogue and to lend practical support to General Assembly resolutions on multilingualism in international relations, we are proposing proclaiming an International Day of Multilingual Diplomacy as well. Distinguished Heads and Members of Delegations, all of Turkmenistan's international initiatives and actions are always measured against and aligned with the UN Charter and its founding documents, as well as with its long-term goals. It is no coincidence that we always emphasize that cooperation with the UN is a strategic priority for Turkmenistan. We say this with the conviction that the UN is the only international organization endowed with universal legitimacy. In this regard, it must remain the guarantor of peace and development and be the backbone of global security and stability. Turkmenistan will continue to advocate consistently for strengthening the central role of the UN in international affairs. We consider strengthening the primacy of international law and in improving the international legal framework and increasing the effectiveness of the implementation of UN conventions, treaties, agreements and other multilateral documents as key factors in this regard. In this context, Turkmenistan is initiating the proclamation of the Year of International Law in 2028. This will become an important step in strengthening the international legal foundations of peace and cooperation. Ladies and gentlemen, this session holds special significance for Turkmenistan. Thirty years ago, within these very walls, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted the resolution on the permanent neutrality of Turkmenistan. For our country, this was a momentous historic event. In essence, it determined the entire subsequent course of Turkmenistan's foreign and international policy. International recognition of our neutrality also contributed to boosting the country's domestic development by providing favorable external conditions for this. I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the people of Turkmenistan, to express my gratitude to the United Nations Member States and the entire international community for the decision adopted in December 1995 to recognize the permanent neutrality of Turkmenistan, a decision reaffirmed by two subsequent UN General Assembly resolutions. Turkmenistan will always remember the trust placed in it and will steadfastly and unswervingly uphold its international commitments. Once again, I would like to congratulate all delegations on the opening of the 80th anniversary session of the United Nations General Assembly and wish you every success in strengthening our cooperation and mutual understanding. Thank you very much indeed. On behalf of the Assembly, I wish to thank the President of Turkmenistan, the Assembly will hear and address...