Speech by the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov at the third Antalya Diplomatic Forum

Dear heads and members of delegations!

Ladies and Gentlemen!

First of all, I express my gratitude to the President of the Republic of Turkey, my dear brother Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for the invitation to this forum.

I am also grateful to the organizers for the opportunity to speak at a prestigious forum, which, I want to note, is organized at a high level and, at the same time, demonstrates the hospitality of our Turkish brothers.

The modern situation in the system of international relations poses a number of serious questions that affect, in fact, not only politics, economics and law, but also ethical, judicial relations and relations of honor and dignity.

I believe that today these definitions cannot be considered in isolation, they are united, and therefore, in order to maintain political security, sustainable and economic development, it is necessary to maximally involve the peoples and states of the planet, regardless of the historical role, population, volume of gross domestic product, military potential or level technological development. Their legal rights should be affirmed in order to become a member and subject of the modern and future world order.

In this regard, Turkmenistan’s position is firm and clear: such an issue in such a controversial time can and should be resolved through global efforts, based on the norms of international law and the Charter of the United Nations.

Turkmenistan, as a responsible member of the world community, undertakes obligations towards achieving this goal.

As you know, in September 2023, at the plenary session of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, our country made a proposal to develop a Global Security Strategy under the auspices of the Community of Nations, which we consider as a system of positions and norms on the structure of interstate and international relations in the 21st century and the mechanism for building it.

And what initiatives does Turkmenistan offer by putting forward a similar position?

First of all, under the Global Security Strategy we see a very clear and authoritative position of developing countries, whose political role and influence is only growing, and this is a consistent and positive trend. This situation requires special attention and appropriate consolidation in the strategic plans of the United Nations.

At the same time, in strengthening global security, Turkmenistan considers it expedient to strengthen work through regional organizations and interstate associations, not only in the political aspect, but also in the economic and humanitarian fields.

It is also necessary to listen to the opinions of specialized structures and institutions on this issue and involve them in resolving major issues of global politics.

The United Nations should be assisted in fulfilling the main mission laid down by its founders - ensuring universal peace, equal cooperation and development. This is not just our moral duty, but is directly related to our responsibility to realistically and objectively assess the risks and threats emerging in the world today.

Along with this, I consider it necessary to intensify the interaction of other international structures and associations with the United Nations, as well as to enhance the role and functions of regional representative offices and UN agencies in addressing issues of maintaining peace on the planet and world order.

The main tool in carrying out these tasks is the potential of neutrality and preventive diplomacy, which is an attributable element of ensuring conditions for building a unified dialogue aimed at creating a safe and sustainable global architecture, taking into account the interests of all participants.

A clear confirmation of this is the activities of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia, headquartered in the capital of neutral Turkmenistan - Ashgabat, which was created by a unanimous decision of the members of the UN Security Council and with the support of all countries in the region. In our opinion, this Center can become an example of a systematic approach to resolving conflicts and getting out of difficult situations - both existing and potential.

Neutrality, its norms and practices must become more effective and broader than the means used today in the international community. We are sure that this will happen.

The status of neutrality provides for non-alignment with blocs, non-use of military force and non-participation in conflicts. And the more countries follow these principles, the more supporters of this approach there are, the less likely conflicts will arise.

In this matter, neutrality can become a positional springboard for healthy and responsible forces, individual countries or an alliance of states, which allows one to resolve conflict situations and demonstrate that emerging disagreements, no matter how complex and prolonged they may be, can be resolved through peaceful methods and negotiations.

Recently, Turkmenistan, adhering to this position, put forward an initiative to create a State