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.