Serdar Berdimuhamedov, President of Turkmenistan, said that, as a permanently neutral State that aims to cooperate with the UN to ensure international peace and security, Turkmenistan is taking practical steps to foster an atmosphere of cooperation, mutual understanding and respectful dialogue. This is the prime condition to ensure stable and sustainable development at the global and regional levels.

“We are convinced that one of the most effective mechanisms for promoting and achieving these goals today is the practical application of the principles of neutrality,” he said. In this regard, Turkmenistan has initiated the inclusion of a separate agenda on “Neutrality for Peace and Security,” in the eightieth session. The Government will also propose a draft resolution on “The Role and Importance of the Policy of Neutrality in Maintaining and Strengthening International Peace, Security, and the Process of Sustainable Development”.

As the Assembly has proclaimed this year the International Year of Peace and Trust, Turkmenistan will host a high-level international forum dedicated to the Year of Peace and Trust, he said. To bring States’ approaches closer together on global development trends, the Government is also initiating a World Summit on the Issues of a Culture of Peace and Trust.

A key objective is developing a Global Code of International Trust to lay down a universal basis for building relations between States using the principles of respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and cooperation. “We view the issues of ensuring universal peace and mutual understanding as inseparable from the civilizational aspects of modern development,” he said.

Central Asia, which has played an objective role as a civilizational bridge between East and West for centuries, is “today called upon to revive its historical mission — to become a space for dialogue, cooperation and convergence of values and worldviews”, he said.

To consolidate the international community’s efforts to develop transport corridors that are sustainable and ensure access for all countries, Turkmenistan will submit a draft resolution to proclaim the 2026-2035 period the United Nations Decade for Sustainable Transport. It will also submit a draft resolution on “The Key Role of Reliable and Stable Energy Connectivity in Ensuring Sustainable Development.”

Another priority of development is digital transformation. “We are convinced that this process must be balanced, reflect the realities and legitimate interests of all States, including the developing world, and be free from politicization and bias,” he said. Turkmenistan will propose an initiative to establish a World Platform on Digital Integration. This will be based on the principles of equality, trust and inadmissibility of using information and communication technologies to the detriment of peace, security and sustainable development.

During this session, Turkmenistan will continue its work on environmental and climates issues, such as promoting the Caspian Environmental Initiative proposed at the Assembly’s seventy-eighth session, he said.

Turkmenistan always measures and correlates all its international steps, initiatives and long-term goals with the United Nations Charter. Cooperation with the UN is a strategic priority. “We say this with the conviction that the UN is the only international organization endowed with universal legitimacy,” he said. “In this capacity, it must remain the guarantor of peace and development, the framework of security and resilience of the global architecture.”

On behalf of all the country’s people, he thanked the Member States and international community for the December 1995 decision to recognize the country’s permanent neutrality, confirmed by two subsequent Assembly resolutions. “Turkmenistan will always remember the trust placed in it and will firmly and impeccably follow its international obligations,” he said.

Turkmenistan | General Debate