OREANDA-NEWS. September 21, 2010. President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov had a meeting with Lynn Pascoe, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Political Affairs in New York.

Exchanging the heartfelt greetings, the sides evaluated highly Turkmenistan-UN cooperation developed steadily in the interests of peace and common wellbeing. It was noted that cooperation based on mutual initiatives and steps to implement them exemplified successfully collaboration on the international arena.

Lynn Pascoe, who had been to Ashgabat before, emphasized that he knew very well about fundamental changes taking place in Turkmenistan and viewed them as a reliable springboard for deployment further joint actions. The UN high-ranking official noted that Turkmenistan and its capital had earned worldwide the reputation of peacekeepers, and this was a very valuable practice, undoubtedly, demanded by the international community as a universal mechanism for joint action to work toward the common goal – peace and cohesion on the earth.

In this context the sides focused on a wide range of tasks set to the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia, reaffirming the mutual commitment to cooperation in the field of global disarmament, an inter-Afghan settlement, collective security, counteraction to such global threats of the modern world as drug trafficking and terrorism. It was emphasized that only active cooperation which had proved its effectiveness as well as the inexhaustible potential could become a major tool to respond to these global threats and challenges of our time by effectively using Turkmenistan’s infrastructure capabilities to enhance the work of the UN agencies in the regions of Central Asia and the Caspian Sea Basin.

Expressing gratitude for the support for Turkmenistan’s standpoints on topical regional and global issues, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov invited the UN representatives to visit Ashgabat this December and take part in the celebrations in honour of the 15th anniversary of gaining the status of permanent neutrality in Turkmenistan.

Thanking for the invitation, UN Under-Secretary-General Lynn Pascoe expressed belief that the Turkmen leader’s initiatives would build a firm platform for further effective cooperation with the United Nations.

During the meeting the issues of regional and international politics of mutual interest were discussed.