Turkmenistan, 2013

At the outset, allow me to express our sincere gratitude

for the honour of addressing the General Assembly from

this rostrum. I bring greetings from His Excellency

Mr. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, President of

Turkmenistan, who wishes the General Assembly the

best of luck at this session. I congratulate Mr. John

William Ashe on his election as President of the General

Assembly at its sixty-eighth session and wish him all

the best in fulfilling his forthcoming tasks. I would also

like to thank Mr. Vuk Jeremi., President of the General

Assembly at its sixty-seventh session, for his skill and

effectiveness in that post.

Turkmenistan considers this session to be an

important phase in the process of consolidating the

efforts of the international community to strengthen

universal peace, stability and security by adopting

meaningful decisions on sustainable development and

to counter emerging challenges and threats. We believe

that strict adherence to the principles and norms of the

Charter of the United Nations is the main prerequisite

for ensuring long-term peace and strategic stability.

In that belief, Turkmenistan adheres to a steady

and resolute policy of peace, good-neighbourliness and

the active promotion of peacebuilding processes. As a

matter of principle, we reject the use of military force as

a tool of foreign policy and international relations. Our

country is convinced that solutions based on the use

of force are doomed to fail. They neither eliminate the

causes of conflicts nor create conditions for adequate

responses to the many issues that arise from military

action. Therefore, at the heart of Turkmenistan’s policies

is the will to resolve any situation by peaceful, political

and diplomatic ways and means, which it considers to

be the main legitimate resources available within the

United Nations. This approach is based on our common

goal to establish a world without conflict.

At the sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly,

Turkmenistan’s President launched an initiative aimed

at the adoption of a United Nations declaration on

prioritizing political and diplomatic ways and means

for the resolution of international challenges. Today,

the elaboration of such a document has become a top

priority. Turkmenistan therefore reaffirms its firm

desire to engage in a meaningful discussion on this

initiative with all interested Member States. We are

convinced that the adoption of such a declaration would

help to expand and strengthen the legal basis for the

work of the General Assembly, the Security Council

and other United Nations entities dealing with issues

relating to world peace, stability and security.

The challenging processes unfolding in today’s

world call for a responsible, thoughtful, effective

and efficient approach on the part of the United

Nations. That is also linked directly to the important

challenges of disarmament. By playing an active role

in the multilateral dialogue on disarmament issues, my

Government is demonstrating its firm commitment to

complying with the core international norms regulating

the disarmament process and the non-proliferation

of weapons of mass destruction through practical

action. Following this course of action and taking

into consideration the need to energize the discussion

and meaningful consideration of disarmament issues,

Turkmenistan proposes the convening in 2014 of a high-

level international meeting on disarmament issues.

We are prepared to create all the necessary conditions

and to provide the appropriate infrastructure for this

meeting in our capital city.

Nowadays, problems related to strengthening

peace and stability and to ensuring the stability of

countries and nations are among the most important

topics in global politics. Their resolution will depend

primarily on the establishment and effective legal

and organizational operationalization of international

political cooperation. In this context, we advise the

General Assembly at this session to embark on the

consideration of issues relating to the improvement of

various forms of multilateral interaction that could serve

as a political platform for finding mutually acceptable

decisions on urgent regional and international policy

matters.

It should be noted in that regard that the

United Nations fulfils its purpose. For example, the

establishment of United Nations preventive diplomacy

centres in various regions of the world has become a

highly effective form of joint work to strengthen security,

prevent conflicts and eliminate their underlying causes.

It is well known that the first such centre, the United

Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy in

Central Asia, based in Ashgabat, opened in December

2007. In our view, the experience of creating new

mechanisms and institutions aimed at forming a system

of international interaction at the global and regional

levels must and should be replicated by States Members

of the United Nations.

Taking into account the need to enhance the

effectiveness of inter-State contact at the regional

level, Turkmenistan has launched a forum of peace

and cooperation, aimed at establishing a standing

mechanism for political dialogue in Central Asia.

We believe that the forum will contribute to the

elaboration of consensus-based approaches to finding

solutions to the most important issues relating to the

present and future development of Central Asia and

its neighbouring regions. Moreover, the forum could

become the basis for the establishment of a consultative

council of the Heads of State of Central Asia. We are

convinced that the development of new formats for

political interaction among States within the region,

coupled with the effective functioning of United

Nations regional structures, will provide a reliable

foundation and stability for the entire architecture of

inter-State relations in Central Asia.

To a great extent, attaining the goals of

comprehensive and universal security will depend on

ensuring security in the sphere of energy. Furthermore,

the achievement of that goal is one of the most

important components of a stable world economy and

serves to protect it against distortions and disruptions.

In that connection, the development of an international

mechanism that provides for a set of guarantees for the

global energy supply is a task of paramount importance.

It is also necessary to underscore the importance of

the joint work and coordinated efforts of all Member

States aimed at developing and adopting consolidated

approaches to the solution of energy security issues.

The establishment by the United Nations of a new

universal international legal tool kit is a key element

of that process. It should, in our view, consist of the

following three major elements: a multilateral United

Nations document providing the legal basis for

relations in the area of the global supply of energy

resources; a corresponding United Nations structure

that would ensure the implementation of the provisions

of the aforementioned document; and an international

database designed for the collection and analysis of

data on the implementation of international obligations

assumed by the participating States.

It is common knowledge that on 17 May 2013 the

General Assembly adopted by consensus resolution

67/263, submitted on the initiative of Turkmenistan’s

President, entitled “Reliable and stable transit of energy

and its role in ensuring sustainable development and

international cooperation”. The importance of that

document lies primarily in the fact that it forms the

basis for a global energy partnership that takes into

account the interests of producer States, transit States

and States that are consumers of energy resources.

In accordance with the letter and the spirit of that

resolution, our country proposes to Member States

the establishment, during the current session of the

Assembly, of an international group of experts for the

development of a new mechanism for energy security.

To that end, the Government of Turkmenistan proposes

to convene an international meeting of experts on

that topic in 2014. We are ready to engage in close

cooperation with all Member States and the United

Nations Secretariat with a view to organizing and

holding such a forum.

Currently the resolution of issues of security and

sustainable development depends largely on the level

of international cooperation in the important areas of

transport and communications. The geo-economic

potential of new transport and transit routes in the

world is enormously significant. Such routes involve

vast spaces and enormous human resources and

attract considerable investments. All of that creates

opportunities to transform the transport sector into

one of the most important factors in sustainable

development.

Turkmenistan is convinced that the twenty-first-

century transportation architecture provides the

framework for a breakthrough in integration, in joining

the common efforts of regions and in the pooling of

resources and industrial and human potential. It is

our firm conviction that the future belongs to such

a combined system of transport communication,

involving major international and regional maritime,

road, railroad and air hubs, their optimal integration

and the use of their specific advantages.

The practical implementation of that idea

became the subject of a high-level event on modality,

interconnectivity and the post-2015 development

programme, which was held in New York on

26 September. It was organized by the Government of

Turkmenistan and the International Road Transport

Union. The event focused on the search for effective

solutions relating to the establishment of modern,

diversified and safe transport infrastructure throughout

the world.

We consider it necessary to continue the multilateral

dialogue on transport issues that was initiated during

the current session of the General Assembly. In that

connection, Turkmenistan would like to submit a

proposal to host in 2014 in Ashgabat an international

conference on the role of transport and transit corridors

in ensuring international cooperation, stability and

sustainable development.

With regard to the achievement of the sustainable

development goals, we believe that the greatest attention

should be focused on promoting the economic interests

of States, while maintaining an appropriate ecological

balance and preventing harm to the environment. That,

in turn, implies the use of cutting-edge environmental

technologies and the development of innovative

solutions for the preservation of nature. Preserving

the significant environmental component of the global

economic space has therefore become an integral part

of its effectiveness.

We highly value the efforts undertaken by the

Secretary-General, as well as the successive actions

of the international community at the United Nations

Climate Change Conferences in Copenhagen and

Cancun and during the seventeenth Conference of the

Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention

on Climate Change, held in Durban, which have

gradually laid the foundations for the development

of comprehensive decisions at the United Nations

Conference on Sustainable Development.

We look forward to the continuation of a constructive

international dialogue on that topic during the sixty-

eighth session of the Assembly. We are convinced that

it is necessary to combine our efforts in that area at

the international, regional and national levels, and to

effectively coordinate the efforts of States with those of

the United Nations.

Taking into account the numerous aspects of the

climate change issue, Turkmenistan wishes to state at the

current session of the General Assembly that it stands

ready to make its contribution to the strengthening of the

role of multilateral international mechanisms aimed at

preventing the negative consequences of global climate

change. In particular, we refer to the need for enhancing

the implementation of the provisions of the United

Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. In that

connection, we are prepared to host in Turkmenistan

the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations

Convention to Combat Desertification in 2014.

Furthermore, our country would like to launch an

initiative aimed at the establishment of a specialized

entity, a subregional centre on technologies relating

to climate change in Central Asia and the Caspian Sea

basin. We believe that such an entity would help the

countries of our regions to substantially strengthen

their interaction in the sphere of environmental security

and would contribute to the effective coordination of

interregional efforts in that field.

The challenges confronting the community

of nations in the area of security and sustainable

development cannot be resolved unless we find a

solution to the humanitarian issues at the international

level. In particular, we are referring to the serious global

problem of the fate of refugees and stateless persons.

As a permanent member of the Executive Committee of

the High Commissioner’s Programme of the Office of

the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,

Turkmenistan has accumulated valuable experience in

resolving the issues facing people who were forced to

leave their home countries. Together with the Office of

the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,

we propose that all interested parties become familiar

with Turkmenistan’s practical work in granting

citizenship to refugees and stateless persons.

In that connection, it would be advisable to work

jointly with United Nations humanitarian agencies to

develop an appropriate social programme. Moreover,

taking into account the outcomes of the International

Ministerial Conference of the Organization of Islamic

Cooperation on Refugees in the Muslim World, held

in Ashgabat in May 2012, we consider it necessary to

develop long-term solutions to such issues, on the basis

of generally recognized norms of international law.

With a view to discussing those issues, we are ready

to host in Turkmenistan in 2014 a high-level event in

cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High

Commissioner for Refugees.

Today, as Member States actively discuss the

role and place of the United Nations in international

relations, Turkmenistan declares that constructive and

multilateral cooperation with the United Nations is

the top priority of its foreign policy strategy. In that

connection, we believe that it is precisely the United

Nations that is the main and universal international

Organization, which adopts decisions concerning

the most important issues of global development and

comprehensive peace and security. Since its inception,

the United Nations has demonstrated its role as the

foundation of the entire system of international stability,

through mechanisms to ensure justice and to resolve

the most complex international problems.

Similarly, we share the opinion of the Organization

today that the issue of providing it with fresh impetus

is increasingly relevant, in view of the rapidly changing

realities of the modern world. Therefore, Turkmenistan

supports a strengthened and expanded role for the

United Nations at the global level.

We are firmly convinced that international

law and the provisions of the Charter of the United

Nations — based on peace, equal rights and respect for

nations, their rights and sovereignty — must remain

the foundation of the world order in the twenty-first

century.