A BRIEFING ON THE MEETINGS OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND THE COUNCIL OF HEADS OF STATES OF THE CIS WAS HELD AT THE MFA OF TURKMENISTAN

On October 12, 2019, in the premises of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, with the participation of the representatives of national and foreign media, as well as heads and representatives of diplomatic missions and international organizations accredited in Turkmenistan, a briefing was held on the meetings of the Council of Foreign Ministers and the Council of Heads of States of the CIS held in Ashgabat on 10 and 11 October, 2019.

Besides the Head of the external policy agency of Turkmenistan, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to Turkmenistan V.Beskosty, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Turkmenistan A.Blokhin, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Turkmenistan Ye.Sapiyev and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Uzbekistan to Turkmenistan A. Kuchkarov gave speeches at the briefing.

In his speech, Minister of Foreign Affairs R. Meredov noted that within the framework of the country's chairmanship in the CIS, meetings of absolutely all the statutory bodies of the Commonwealth were held in Ashgabat throughout the year. This is the Council of Heads of State, the Council of Foreign Ministers, on May 31 a regular meeting of the Council of Heads of Governments took place, on September 13 Turkmen capital became the venue for the forum of the Economic Council. In addition, Ashgabat hosted meetings of various sectoral structures of the CIS. It was emphasized that all the events held within the framework of the presidency of Turkmenistan in the Commonwealth of Independent States this year were very successful. In particular, the briefing participants were acquainted with the main results of the meetings of the Council of Foreign Ministers and the Council of Heads of CIS States.

Speaking about the results of the Summit of the CIS Heads of States Council, the Minister of Foreign Affairs drew attention to the importance of signing the Ashgabat Declaration on the strategic economic partnership of the Commonwealth states, the development of which was initiated by the President of Turkmenistan in Sochi in October 2017. R. Meredov called the Message from the Heads of CIS Member States to the peoples of the countries of the Commonwealth and the world community in connection with the 75th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, an important document in terms of preserving the historical memory and patriotic education of the younger generation.

Separately, the initiatives put forward by the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov during the meeting of the Council of the Heads of States of the CIS aimed at further strengthening of cooperation between the countries, including promoting economic and humanitarian cooperation, as well as preserving historical and cultural values, were highlighted. It was emphasized that the President of Turkmenistan was awarded the medal of the Interstate Fund for the Humanitarian cooperation of the CIS member states “For Merits in the Development of Humanitarian Cooperation.”

All the speakers of the briefing underlined the vital role of Turkmenistan in the process of attaining the goals and objectives of the Commonwealth.  Taking an active position in the international arena, including the platforms of the UN, OSCE and other authoritative international organizations, Turkmenistan is steadily following its policy of positive neutrality. Thus, the meetings recently held once again confirm the country's commitment to make every effort to achieve political and economic integration, ensuring peace, stability and sustainable development in the entire region and the whole world.