OREANDA-NEWS. September 9, 2011.  The roundtable focusing on international practices on citizenship-related issues was conducted in the Turkmen capital. The forum organized by the Mejlis of Turkmenistan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) brought together participants representing the national ministries and departments, including the Turkmen National Institute for Democracy and Human Rights under the President of Turkmenistan, velayat khyakimliks, journalists. UNICEF experts and foreign specialist presented the reports at the roundtable.

In his greeting remarks UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Turkmenistan Lenni Montiel noted that the United Nations supported fully the peace-building policy and large-scale reforms initiated by the Turkmen leader Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and expressed belief that productive cooperation meeting national interests of the country and global millennium goals would be continued.

Those speaking at the roundtable said that the fundamental principle of the progressive peacemaking policy of the Turkmen state was the concern for an individual, protection of the rights and freedoms of all citizens of the country. As is known, Turkmenistan as a party to a number of agreements and UN conventions has been recently elected to the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme and stands steadfast to the commitments undertaken.

The roundtable participants learned about international practices in protecting the constitutional and legal status of an individual and presented the overviews on practical solutions to important issues on the examples of their countries and studied international standards and recommendations in this sphere.

In this context the national experts made the presentations on major aspects of the national legislation and the measures taken to bring it in line with international legal norms.

At the conclusion of the forum the representatives of UNHCR and other agencies of this authoritative international organisation expressed the willingness to intensify further fruitful partnerships with Turkmenistan.