OREANDA-NEWS. April 13, 2009. The meeting of the Council of CIS Foreign Ministers was held in the Turkmen capital. President of Turkmenistan attended the opening ceremony.

The day before the heads of the foreign ministers of the states – members of the Commonwealth of Independent States including the foreign ministers of the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Moldova, the Republic of Uzbekistan and Ukraine represented by the deputy foreign ministers had arrived in Ashgabat to take part in the meeting. The delegation of the CIS Executive Committee was led by Sergey Lebedev, Chairman of the Executive Committee, Executive Secretary of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

In the morning the heads of the delegations of the CIS member states visited Gypjak settlement where they commemorated the first President of independent neutral Turkmenistan.

In the first half of the day the Turkmen leader held a series of the bilateral talks with the heads of the foreign ministries of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and Tajikistan. The day before Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov had had the talks with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Chairman of the Executive Committee, Executive Secretary of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The opening ceremony was held in the Round Hall of the Ruhiyet Palace. President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov addressed the forum.

Greeting those present the Turkmen leader said that he regarded holding the meeting of the Council of CIS Foreign Ministers as a token of respect to the country, an evidence of the high dynamics of partnership and mutual understanding that characterized the relations between Turkmenistan and the CIS member states.

The President stated that harmoniously combining the fulfillment of the tasks of national development with active participation in international activities Turkmenistan viewed cooperation with the CIS member states as a key trend in its foreign policy. Being a neutral state it makes every effort to implement this status to enhance stability and security on the planet, to achieve global economic, political and cultural progress.

Calling for intensifying constructive international collaboration meeting the modern requirements Turkmenistan builds the intergovernmental relations on the principles of nonviolence, goodwill, noninterference with the internal affairs, consistent dialogue of different cultures and civilizations, exchange of advanced expertise and positive ideas. Standing adherent to the aims and Charter of the United Nations an meeting the vital interests of the Turkmen people an other nations all over the world these principles promote building the firm bridges of mutual confidence and friendship with foreign countries, especially the neighbours, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said.

Focusing on significance of economic cooperation in the framework of the CIS aimed at enriching the bilateral relations, filling regional and interregional ties with a new content, facilitating effective integration of the CIS member states in the global economic processes the Turkmen leader specified the trends in cooperation meeting the country’s priorities. In particular, these included transport, communication and energy sectors. Emphasizing that the territory of the CIS was a natural transport corridor on the east-west, north-south routes giving an access to largest international markets Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov provided the example of the project on construction of Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran trunk railway that had entered the practical phase. Moreover, there were other transport projects implemented meeting the interests of the CIS member states and providing the vast opportunities of cooperation with other countries in Asia and Europe that deserved very close attention, the Turkmen leader noted.

As concerns fuel and energy cooperation successful implementation of the joint projects on construction of new transnational pipelines was able to substantially foster the economic and social progress of the producing countries as well as transit and consumer countries due to the profound resource and transit potential of the states of the Commonwealth. Focusing on such a principal aspect as reliability, stability and security of transit of energy to world markets the President noted that it was this aspect that called forth the initiative forwarded by Turkmenistan to the United Nations – to launch the open, multilateral, global dialogue to design the balanced approaches to the principles and practice of operating on global energy market, to create the effective international legal mechanisms for protecting energy infrastructure.

Expressing sincere gratitude to the participants of the Council for their unanimous support of the UN Resolution on security of transnational energy infrastructure coauthored by all the CIS member states Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov emphasized that it evidenced global awareness of vital importance of the problem raised and adherence to constructive cooperation. Noting that Turkmenistan regard this position of the CIS member states as a manifestation of true friendship, firmness of contacts the President invited the representatives of the CIS member stat to take part in the high-level international conference on the reliable and stable transit of energy which would be held in Ashgabat on April 23-24.

Calling for further development of international cooperation the Turkmen leader stated with satisfaction that mutual respect and equality, freedom of choice of the level and form of its participation in joint undertakings by each country remained the fundamental principles of the CIS. The President said that adherence to these principles guaranteed vitality and flexibility to the Commonwealth of Independent States, revealed the new sides and perspectives of partnership. In this regard emphasis was put on significance of constructive cooperation in the framework of the international organisations, patricianly the United Nations, and the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy in Central Asia headquartered in Ashgabat.

In conclusion the President of Turkmenistan wished the forum fruitful, successful work.

On behalf of the participants Sergey Lebedev, Chairman of the Executive Committee, Executive Secretary of the Commonwealth of Independent States thanked the leader of Turkmenistan for the heartfelt wishes and assistance in organizing the forum. S. Lebedev noted said that the Turkmen leader’s address would offer a powerful positive incentive to the forum. Highly appreciating Turkmenistan’s active approach to further development of cooperation in the CIS the CIS Executive Secretary expressed sincere gratitude for the assistance and hospitality to Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.

Then the Council of CIS Foreign Ministers continued to work behind closed doors. The results of the CIS forum were presented at the press conference which was conducted upon concluding the forum. Speaking at the press conference Sergey Lavrov, RF Minister of Foreign Affairs said that over 20 agenda items related to drafting the documents for the coming meetings of the Council of CIS leaders and the Council of CIS heads of governments were considered. The forum participants took the decisions on development of cooperation in the humanitarian sphere, in particular education and sports. The special decision was taken on the preparations for the celebrations of the 65th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War and the additional measures to support veterans.

The forum adopted the important documents aimed at enhancing the effective work to combat crime, strengthening cooperation on migration policy and air accidents investigation. The participants harmonized the views on the CIS further development concept and plan of action under this concept. In particular, the work on the draft Regulations on the Procedures of High Level Forums under the aegis of the CIS was completed.

Upon considering the reports on the work of the CIS observer missions monitoring the elections in the CIS member countries the forum participants called for continuing this work on a basis of the accumulated experience. The schedule of multilateral consultations between the foreign ministries of the CIS for 2009 was approved.

The foreign ministers unanimously approved the Joint Statement on the recent events in the Republic of Moldova condemning the occurrence of the violence, the attempts to undermine the democratic processes and called upon to solve the emerging problem in the legal environment. In conclusion Sergey Lavrov expressed belief that the meeting of the Council of CIS Foreign Ministers in Ashgabat would an important stage of cooperation among the countries of the CIS.

Sergey Lebedev, Chairman of the Executive Committee, Executive Secretary of the Commonwealth of Independent States highly appreciated the high level of organization and well-coordinated work of the forum. Sergey Lebedev expressed special gratitude to President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov for participating in the meeting and delivering the very interesting and effective speech touching upon the key trends in cooperation of the CIS member states. The issues of cooperation in the transport, energy, humanitarian sectors and on water use were of particular concern to the CIS Executive Committee. The Chairman of the Executive Committee said that these included the problems of food security as well and informed that the preparations for the CIS agricultural forum, which would be held on the initiative of the Turkmen leader in Ashgabat this autumn, were a focus of the recent talks with the President of Turkmenistan. In this regard S. Lebedev expressed profound satisfaction at the dynamics of collaboration with the Turkmen partners and emphasized that Turkmenistan demonstrated the most active position on cooperation in the CIS space.

On behalf of Turkmenistan, Vice Premier, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan R. Meredov expressed profound gratitude to the colleagues for taking a constructive approach to partnership, discussing actively the important trends in cooperation and fruitful work of the forum in whole. Special gratitude was expressed to the officials of the CIS Executive Committee and, first of all, Chairman Sergey Lebedev for the high level of organisation of the CIS forum.

In the afternoon an official reception was given in honour of the honorary guests on behalf of the President of Turkmenistan.