Today, the Foreign Ministry hosted a briefing by the Head of the OSCE Center in Ashgabat Natalia Drozd with the participation of representatives of the diplomatic corps and the media, teachers of the Institute of International Relations of the country's Foreign Ministry.

According to the State News Agency of Turkmenistan, the head of the OSCE Center highly appreciated the political, economic and humanitarian aspects of neutrality that are the basis of the foreign policy of our country, which play an important role in solving urgent tasks of global development, contribute to strengthening peace, stability and security at the regional and global levels. 

In this context, Ms. Natalya Drozd highlighted the fact that the Final Document of the International Conference “Policy of Neutrality and its Role in Ensuring International Peace, Security and Sustainable Development”, held on December 12, 2020 in Ashgabat, was published in the six official languages of the United Nations.

The document recommends all UN member states to promote the implementation of an active neutral policy, to fully use the potential of neutral states in international efforts to maintain peace and mutual understanding.

It is also especially emphasized that for these purposes it is necessary to actively use the tools of preventive diplomacy, which is one of the key components of the activities of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Noting the exceptional importance and relevance of the widespread use of political and diplomatic methods in the settlement of any controversial issues in international relations, the head of the Center expressed support for the constructive initiatives of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and the practical steps taken consistently in this direction.

“It should be separately emphasized that the Ashgabat document welcomes the creation of the Group of Friends of Neutrality in the name of peace, security and sustainable development. This initiative of the Government of Turkmenistan is of particular importance, since the Group will serve as an effective platform for maintaining an equal dialogue on using the potential of neutrality in order to improve international political cooperation”, N. Drozd said.

She also expressed confidence that this document will serve as a guideline for further joint activities of Turkmenistan and the OSCE.

During the briefing, the Head of the OSCE Center in Ashgabat also emphasized the importance of the UN General Assembly Resolution on declaring 2021 the International Year of Peace and Confidence.

As noted in this regard, by initiating this Resolution, Turkmenistan reaffirmed its commitment to use neutral status to facilitate global efforts to ensure peace and security.