OREANDA-NEWS. December 02, 2010.  Let me congratulate you on opening the 7th OSCE Summit on behalf of the Turkmen delegation and wish you a fruitful work. Also, I would like to express gratitude to President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbaev, the Government of the country for hospitality and the excellent organisation of this forum.

Today’s meeting is being held against the background of the processes that objectively require consolidation of the political, economic and intellectual potential of the OSCE in priority areas of activity, concretization of the tasks it faces in the light of new factors and trends in global development.

Among these tasks problems along with the others, I would like to mention building effective mechanisms for preventing and neutralizing international conflicts, countering political and religious extremism, terrorist threats, drug trafficking and cross-border crime, developing a modern model of international partnership in energy transit. Obviously, the fulfilment of these tasks is consistent with the fundamental goals and values of the OSCE and evolves from the logic of collaboration within the Organization as well as its relationships with the rest of the world.

Turkmenistan as a participating State of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe stands for establishing multidimensional cooperation in the OSCE space that is to have a significant impact on global development processes.

I believe that there are all necessary prerequisites for that. In this context we highly evaluate the fact that today Central Asia has been promoted to the category of the OSCE’s strategic priorities becoming a venue for a lively multilateral dialogue on a wide spectrum of coo.

Turkmenistan welcomes such participation of our partners and counterparts in the OSCE in regional processes and stands ready for an active and open discussion of plans and prospects for cooperation. In this regard, I consider it possible to involve the OSCE in implementing Turkmenistan’s initiative to establish High-level Forum on Security and Cooperation in Central Asia and the Caspian Basin that we have recently put forward at the UN General Assembly.

The OSCE experience, its authority as an influential international organisation will certainly contribute to facilitating a regional dialogue in this format.

Security of international energy supplies is deemed to be another important field which the efforts of our Organization should be focused on. The urgency of the problem is no longer questioned today.

It affects the vital interests of a majority of OSCE participating States and has direct impact on stability of the geostrategic situation on the continent. In this regard we believe it appropriate to intensify the energy dialogue within our Organization, to formulate the mechanisms for multilateral consultations on political, financial, economic, technological and environmental aspects of construction and operation of multivariant pipeline infrastructure.

It is necessary to reach a new level of comprehension of modern realities in this field, repudiate the politicization of energy supply issues and establish fair, equitable and transparent partnership. Here we rely on a more effective role of the OSCE. We propose to consider the possibility of convening a special meeting of heads of energy agencies of our Organization focusing on energy security challenge. We are ready to host this meeting in Ashgabat.

Turkmenistan fully shares the concern of the international community over existing terrorist threats, the activities of criminal groups involved in drug trafficking, arms smuggling and human trafficking. We are ready for close cooperation in tackling these challenges through the OSCE.

Regional processes, in particular, the settlement of the situation in Afghanistan have a traditionally important place in our joint work in the OSCE.

When tackling the Afghanistan related problems, we share the conviction that achieving a lasting and durable peace and stability in this country is a key issue of international politics, and successful solutions to it meet the interests of the world community. We understand the OSCE’s approach to settling Afghanistan crisis and efforts taken in this field, and for our part we stand ready to provide necessary assistance to our partners and consider the proposals to coordinate concerted efforts constructively.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The present level of development of Turkmenistan is characterized by drastic reforms aimed at substantial renewal of social and political life of the country, introduction of modern standards and norms in the practice of democratic institutions, improvement of legislation, creation of conditions conducive to revealing creative potential of an individual, guarantee and protection of civil rights and freedoms. In this context I think that our collaboration in the format of the OSCE develops quite dynamically in recent years. Turkmenistan is open to cooperation, creative assimilation of the experience of our Organization, appreciating the willingness to provide us with assistance in this field.

The main thing here is the correct and adequate perception of the course and pace of reforms, their conformity with national peculiarities of Turkmenistan, specificity and uniqueness of its historical way, traditions and mentality of the people by our partners. Such as approach opens up vast opportunities for collaboration, search for new forms of cooperation and more effective implementation of the existing potential

This fully applies to our cooperation in other fields within the OSCE. It should be said that current large-scale reforms in the country, economic diversification, introduction of innovation and other scientific and technological advances are accompanied, especially in recent years, by a significant intensification of contacts in the framework of the OSCE, establishment of the mechanisms for providing technical assistance for the implementation of long-term national projects and programmes. It is talked of promoting economic reforms and developing the agricultural sector, supporting environmental centres, strengthening environmental protection measures in the oil and gas sector and a number of other spheres.

This year we celebrate the 35th anniversary of the signing of the Helsinki Final Act. Over the years our Organization has come a long way and significantly contributed to strengthening global peace, stability and security. Today, the tasks set to the OSCE reflecting changes taking place in the world require further improvement of its activities and conscious reforms of the OSCE executive structures and institutions to meet modern requirements. Turkmenistan is ready to participate actively in this work.

We see the essence of reform in enhancing the role of the OSCE in the world, implementing purposefully its profound potential in priority fields and to address particular global development challenges.

In conclusion I would like to emphasize that for Turkmenistan the participation in the OSCE and active involvement in its activities has been and remains a foreign policy priority. We clearly see the prospects for cooperation within our Organization; we appreciate the progress that has become particularly obvious in recent years and are clearly aware of the importance of a sustained and mutually respectful dialogue with partners. We consider the opportunities offered to us by this summit in this vein.