Turkmenistan, 2000

Allow me, Sir, to welcome you to your post and to

wish you every success in your important and difficult

activities in guiding the activities of this Assembly. I

should like to say how grateful we are to Mr. Theo-Ben

Gurirab for his wise guidance of the last session of the

General Assembly.

The twentieth century was in every aspect a

century of sharp contradictions in relations among

peoples and nationalities, as well as a century of

economic disaster. The most stark examples were two

world wars, scores of civil wars and the catastrophe at

the Chernobyl nuclear power station, as well as other

tragedies.

The flames of war also raged in the African

States, which had gained independence in the 1960s. In

Central Asia, the Afghan wound is still bleeding, but

the most important event of the twentieth century was

the collapse of the enormous empire called the

USSR — an empire which wore the outer shell of

international friendship but within which everything

was worm-eaten. New, independent sovereign states

arose from its ruins. Out of that rubble, our

independent neutral State arose — Turkmenistan,

which from the very first days of its coming into being

chose the path of goodness and justice, peace and

cooperation.

The twentieth century did not resolve many of the

problems that needed resolution. Quite the contrary —

the knots of these problems have become even more

tangled and their lines even more taut. They have

accompanied us into the twenty-first century and now

we must unravel this tangled web and relax these taut

lines. This should be the task and concern of all

peoples and nationalities.

Our planet is the house we share and therefore it

is the duty of everyone living on this planet to keep it

clean and peaceful and to achieve economic stability.

In his report submitted to the Millennium Assembly,

the Secretary-General of the United Nations drew our

attention to problems which require immediate

solution, relating to all aspects of our lives.

Globalization is the priority problem. It is an

inevitable objective process, part of the general course

of world development, which includes many aspects,

both positive and negative. This is a decisive trend in

world development, which affects the whole complex

and multifaceted field of international political and

economic relations. In this respect, questions of

international law and the moral and juridical aspects of

relations between countries and regions cause concern

and require constant monitoring.

We must not allow some to hold sway over others

or allow mankind to be programmed according to one

yardstick alone, and no sovereign state should be

dictated to by insistence on one development model.

This is a very serious question, because this approach

calls into question the entire system of international

relations, the legitimacy of international legal norms

and the principles and purposes — indeed, the viability

of — the United Nations itself as the expression of

voluntary cooperation among equal nations.

The model of political globalization based on the

supremacy of a neo-liberal philosophy is gradually

strengthening the logic of confrontational thought in

international affairs, leading to the arm-twisting of

those who don't recognize the new international power

structure based on humanitarian intervention and

protecting human rights, but not on the rights of

peoples.

Turkmenistan, like the overwhelming majority of

States, is against this approach. We are convinced that

the common progress of mankind lies not in dictating

one model or in a single set of laws and principles, but

a combination of ideas and philosophies. In this

8

context, I should like to stress the importance and

timeliness of the idea put forward by the President of

Iran, President Khatami, of a dialogue between

civilizations. We started this century and this

millennium under such a profound symbol, and this

obliges us to have respect and tolerance for a whole

range of centuries-old cultures and State systems. That

is how we see the possibility for a friendly dialogue

among States, peoples and individuals.

We must move away from looking for differences

among us and start looking for what brings us together,

without forgetting our specific features. That is our

approach in our relations to the world and with all our

partners, and this has made it possible for my country

in the short period of time since our independence to

build friendly relations with all our neighbours in the

region and to find many friends far beyond the confines

of our neighbourhood.

The main achievement of independent

Turkmenistan was to ensure stability within our State,

and this stability has been guaranteed because of the

universal support of the programmes and tasks facing

the State, in which our people take a direct part. It is

thanks to this stability that we are today successfully

implementing economic and social programmes that

seek to provide well-being for our citizens.

The development of a socially oriented policy has

been reflected in a strategy for socio-economic reforms

in Turkmenistan for the period up to 2010. That

programme envisages a continuation of the policy that

gives priority to social programmes, bearing in mind

the economic realities that have emerged in the years of

our independence. Today, Turkmenistan is a country

that is self-sufficient in grain and basic food products

and that has implemented the main parts of its overall

programme for economic security.

In our economic programme, we stress in

particular developing the real sector of the economy,

institutional transformations and attracting

investment — including foreign investment.

Agriculture is our priority, as well as the fuel and

energy sectors, the chemicals industry and consumer

complexes, transport and communications

infrastructure and a network of transnational pipelines

that export Turkmenistan's fuel to world markets.

One of the main tasks in this coming period will

be to develop our productive potential. Here, a leading

role will be played by the fuel industry. We intend to

concentrate our efforts on labour-intensive sectors;

these are promising from the point of view of their

potential and competitiveness. The economic growth of

our State should guarantee the well-being of our

citizens.

From the standpoint of ensuring sustainable

social development and the progress and well-being of

our people, regional cooperation is becoming

particularly important. In our region, we have a stable

system for active economic interaction, provided by the

Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), which

consists of 10 States with major resource and economic

potential. Over the past few years within ECO we have

started to implement some important interregional

transportation and communications projects which will

bring the European and Asian countries' economies

closer together, bridge the technological gap between

them and establish an equitable system of trade and

economic relations between the North and the South.

That same goal is currently being served by

Turkmenistan's efforts to export energy raw materials

to world markets. Building pipelines is not just a

question of profitable commercial projects; these are

also projects for the social development of our country

on an enormous scale, going well beyond our national

confines. Because of this, Turkmenistan is taking an

initiative to draft an international legal instrument to

guarantee the safe, unimpeded transit of energy raw

materials through major inter-State pipelines. This

instrument is necessary to make sure that the interests

of the producers are taken into account, as well as

those of the transit countries and consumers, and that

we totally rule out the possibility of the use of these

pipelines as an instrument for political and economic

pressure.

Another problem that could severely damage

regional stability is the question of the legal status of

the Caspian Sea. The lack of clarity on this question

and the one-sided scenarios being offered impede the

use of the enormous potential of this sea. For

Turkmenistan, the main point is to take into account

the interests of all riparian states in order to ensure that

cooperation on the Caspian is based on mutual respect,

equality and mutual benefit. Turkmenistan believes that

seeking a new legal status for the Caspian Sea requires

all riparian States to make some sensible compromises

9

and show a willingness squarely to face the new

realities. This process should be monitored by the

United Nations.

Touching on regional security, allow me to dwell

on the grave Afghanistan problem, which we take

particularly seriously. The history of the long-suffering

Afghan people has shown that any outside interference

in this domestic conflict, particularly the use of force,

is futile and will only make matters worse. We are

facing a fair accompli, and in this situation we must

recognize that dialogue and cooperation with the

Taliban will give more results from the point of view of

their natural modernization than any attempts to isolate

them or to impose any kind of sanctions on them.

Sanctions basically work against the Afghan people.

They are therefore counterproductive.

Turkmenistan favours a peaceful solution of its

conflicts, and as a neutral, friendly neighbouring State

is prepared actively to promote the Afghan settlement

under the aegis of the United Nations. In particular,

recently, upon the initiative of the President of

Turkmenistan, another initiative was taken to work out

some mutually acceptable solution to resolve this

Afghanistan conflict. That was the point of the

Turkmenistan mission which went to Iran, Afghanistan

and Pakistan and held talks and consultations with top

leaders of these countries and with the leaders of the

Taliban movement and the Northern Alliance, after

which proposals to settle the conflict were made at the

recent meeting between the Secretary-General of the

United Nations and the Afghanistan six plus two group.

Together with the United Nations, Turkmenistan is

making every effort to convince the belligerents to

cease fire and to sit down at the negotiating table.

In conclusion, I again assure the Assembly that in

Turkmenistan the United Nations has an active

Member prepared to make every effort to discharge the

lofty tasks decided at the United Nations Millennium

Summit. As we enter the new millennium we begin to

wonder what it will be like. What awaits us in the

future? Every person, every people, living in this world

is striving for a better, more radiant future, which has

to be built consistently, insistently, on the basis of

peace, respect and progress. I hope that all the peoples

of the world will devote themselves to that goal.