I warmly greet and congratulate the members of the
Assembly as we begin our work at the sixty-third
session.
First of all, I would like to convey to
representatives and the peoples of their countries the
wishes for peace and prosperity of His Excellency
Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, President of
Turkmenistan. Allow me to congratulate the esteemed
President, Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, on his
election to that high and responsible post and to wish
him success in organizing the fruitful work of the
General Assembly at this sixty-third session. Allow me
also to thank Mr. Srgjan Kerim for his successful
leadership of the Assembly at its previous session and
for his active collaboration with the delegations.
The United Nations, which is mandated to discuss
and resolve issues relating to the maintenance of
international peace and security, is currently at one of
the most critical moments in its history. That is
especially evident against the background of current
developments at the global and regional levels. The
diversity of contemporary challenges and threats calls
for the adequate preparation of a whole range of
approaches to prevent them through cooperation among
all Member States.
Today, we need solid measures to counter and
fight such global challenges as international terrorism,
human trafficking, organized crime, illegal drug
trafficking and the threat of the proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction. We are also witnessing
the effects of climate change and environmental
degradation. On top of that, the world community is
facing global issues relating to energy and food
security.
Turkmenistan is a principled and active
participant in the process to identify joint actions
aimed at resolving the most pressing problems of our
time. In that context, we regard the need to intensify
international action to ensure peace and security as a
priority task. The fight against terrorism is one of the
most important aspects of that problem.
Turkmenistan, as a party to major United Nations
instruments to combat international terrorism and
organized crime, supports the Organization’s efforts to
develop a global strategy to fight terrorism and stands
ready to provide its practical assistance to the
international community in that regard.
The non-proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction is a pressing issue on the international
agenda that is connected with ensuring peace and
security. Our country plays an active role in identifying
non-proliferation measures and takes practical steps for
their implementation at the national and international
levels. As a party to the Treaty on the
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Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and other very
important international legal instruments in that sphere,
Turkmenistan has joined international initiatives aimed
at preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction.
In that connection, the signing of the Treaty on a
Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia, which was
prepared and adopted under the aegis of the United
Nations in 2006, has become an important element in
the efforts of the world community to resolve the issue.
Today, we must all take a fresh look at the
existing system for maintaining international peace and
security. The current situation and emerging trends call
for an adequate approach and the formulation of
comprehensive measures, and the community of
nations should take part in their implementation. I am
confident that ongoing discussions and deliberations at
this session will provide us with an opportunity to take
stock of the entire panorama of the contemporary
world through the prism of ensuring a safe life for
States and peoples.
Undoubtedly, the General Assembly will help to
consolidate efforts of Member States for the effective
implementation of such measures. Turkmenistan
supports close cooperation with the United Nations in
adopting comprehensive measures for collective
interaction to address the most pressing issues of our
times. In that connection, we believe it necessary to
consider qualitatively new factors in ensuring security.
Energy security has become an integral
component of the global security system. The
availability and accessibility of fuel and energy
resources, their free delivery to international markets
and effective use by consumers have become major
factors in the development of the world economy as a
whole.
As a major oil and natural gas producer,
Turkmenistan holds a prominent place in the global
energy system. In that connection, we take a highly
responsible approach to developing international
cooperation on the basis of our national interests and
the needs of our partners. Turkmenistan’s policy, of
diversifying supplies of hydrocarbon materials and
ensuring energy security has become an important
factor in that approach. It is apparent that major
investments are needed to develop an effective and
stable system of global energy security and that a
considerable share of those investments should be
directed towards the transportation of hydrocarbons
and the protection of energy infrastructure. In order to
ensure adequate supplies to the world energy markets,
we will also need a highly developed infrastructure of
international pipeline networks.
At the same time, ensuring energy security is not
simply a matter of increasing the pace of hydrocarbon
extraction, developing new deposits or expanding the
infrastructure for transporting and delivering energy
supplies to end users. We must take into account other
factors of that system, such as political stability, the
situation in world markets and the presence of security
guarantees for international pipelines.
Adequate security for energy infrastructure
facilities also implies a decrease in their vulnerability
to the impact of natural and man-made disasters,
potential risks connected to changes in the military and
political situation in certain regions of the world,
threats from international terrorists, and the
unauthorized siphoning of transported energy
resources. Such problems often interrupt or reduce
supplies of fuel, in particular oil and natural gas, and
result in major financial losses and higher prices for
energy supplies, with a negative impact on the
development of the world economy.
Therefore, it has become increasingly urgent to
coordinate the efforts of States to establish a unified
system of energy security. To that end, we must
develop an appropriate international legal framework
and effective partnership mechanisms, including for
the protection of energy transportation systems. It
appears that this problem affects us all, be they energy
producers, transit countries or consumers.
On that basis, Turkmenistan has launched an
initiative aimed at elaborating, under United Nations
auspices, a unique document defining the legal basis
and security guarantees for the functioning of
international pipelines. As a preliminary step towards
implementing that initiative, Turkmenistan has
prepared a draft resolution on the reliability of energy
transit and its role in ensuring stable economic
development and international cooperation, which is
being proposed for consideration at the sixty-third
session of the Assembly. Support for that draft
resolution may provide a good stepping stone for the
future and demonstrate the principled readiness of the
world community seriously to resolve those issues. In
that context, Turkmenistan is prepared to organize in
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2009 an international conference on that problem under
United Nations auspices in Ashgabat, our country’s
capital.
This year has witnessed an important event in the
life of Central Asia that, I believe, may have a
considerable positive impact on the situation in the
region. I mean by that the commencement of the
functioning of the United Nations Regional Centre for
Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia. The
inauguration of the Centre gave an impetus to the new
stage of strategic partnership of Central Asian
countries with the United Nations in undertaking a set
of measures aimed at preventing conflicts and
eliminating their underlying causes.
We consider the inauguration of the Centre as
testimony of the great attention that the world
community devotes to the processes occurring in
Central Asia, clear understanding of the role and
importance of our region in global international affairs
and a desire to provide utmost positive assistance in
tackling regional problems. In the long run, that
activity will be aimed at achieving the long-term goal
of ensuring the security, stability and sustainable
development of the States and peoples of the Central
Asian region.
Moreover, we believe that close interaction of
neighbouring countries is one of the most decisive
factors. In that context, by closely adhering to its
international obligations as a permanently neutral
State, Turkmenistan stands for developing good-
neighbourly cooperation with all the countries of the
region.
In that connection, Turkmenistan provides
economic and humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan
and actively supports the efforts of the international
community to restore peaceful life in that fraternal
country. We would like to see Afghanistan as a
peaceful and prosperous nation, a good neighbour and
partner of all the States in the region.
The issue of the Caspian Sea has acquired special
relevance in the context of regional stability and
economic cooperation. Moreover, its comprehensive
consideration envisages the solution of problems
relating to the establishment of an international legal
basis for cooperation, as well as large-scale
development of the geo-economic potential of the
Caspian region as a major energy basin and
transportation crossroads between East and West,
South and North. For some States in the region that do
not have direct access to international sea
communications, the Caspian Sea is the most important
route to the world markets.
In that regard, effective activity in the Caspian
Sea is directly linked to the enhancement of security in
the adjacent region. Turkmenistan advocates that the
Caspian area should be a zone of peace, stability and
effective international cooperation on the basis of
mutual respect and a partnership of equality.
Being an integral part of the international
community, Turkmenistan sees its future in the
development of a truly democratic society, in which
every individual person, his or her rights and freedoms
and the all-round development of his or her potential
represent the main value and measure of the country’s
progress. Just a few days ago, Turkmenistan witnessed
a major political event — the adoption of the new
version of its constitution, which laid down the legal
basis for the development of national statehood and the
further democratization of social life. In particular, the
constitution considerably broadens the powers of the
parliament as the country’s main legislative body. In
addition, it expands the role of local bodies of
government and self-government, in whose work
citizens take an active part on a broad representative
basis.
Democratization is a natural process of
development of any State and society, and in that
connection, the strengthening of a democratic, secular
and law-based State is our own conscientious sovereign
decision, and we will steadfastly follow this course.
The foreign policy of Turkmenistan is determined
by the national interests of our State and its people, and
its main goal is civilized development on the basis of
positive integration into global political and economic
processes. Therefore, cooperation with the United
Nations is the strategic direction of our foreign policy,
and the principles enshrined in the United Nations
Charter serve for us as the basis for the development of
Turkmenistan’s relations with other States.
We view the United Nations as a universal
international organization, serving as the main
guarantor of the global security system and the
framework of the present and future world order. We
advocate that international law and the United Nations
Charter and their principles of respect for the
sovereignty of every nation and its choice of its own
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way of development and non-interference in internal
affairs should remain the basis of the world order and
the alpha and omega of relations among nations.
On that basis, Turkmenistan determines its view
to its partnership with the United Nations and states its
interest in strengthening and expanding its role in the
system of international relations, especially with regard
to the consolidation of the efforts of Member States to
ensure peace and security on Earth.