Oriented on making people closer

The Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan hosted an official event dedicated to the announcement of 2023 as the International Year of Dialogue as a Guarantee of Peace. The event was held in a hybrid format with the participation of representatives of the main bodies of the UN and its specialized agencies, UN member states, international and regional organizations, civil society, as well as teachers and students of Turkmenistan.

The initiative to promote the philosophy of "Dialogue is a guarantee of peace" and the proposal to declare 2023 the International Year of Dialogue as a guarantee of peace was announced by Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov in 2021 in Ashgabat during the Forum of Peace and Trust and supported by the UN General Assembly by adopting a special resolution on December 6, 2022.

This initiative was the result of a thorough and objective analysis of the current international situation, the nature and trends in interstate relations. It is regrettable to state that in recent years their dynamics has sometimes been determined by a number of negative phenomena: the escalation of military-political rivalry, disregard for international law, and relying on forceful methods of resolving emerging disputes and disagreements.

The implementation of the global campaign "Dialogue as a Guarantee of Peace" directly correlates with the initiative of the UN Secretary General to form an ambitious "New Agenda for Peace", which includes reducing global strategic risks, investing in conflict prevention and peacebuilding, and supporting regional preventive measures.

Recently, António Guterres at the Davos Forum renewed his proposal and called for strengthening joint activities and strengthening international cooperation to restore trust in interstate relations.

In this regard, the philosophy of dialogue promoted by Turkmenistan together with the world community will serve as a tool for building bridges and establishing links between countries in maintaining and strengthening peace and stability at the global level for the benefit of all mankind.

The essence of the initiative “Dialogue is a Guarantee of Peace” is aimed at uniting the efforts of the international community in strengthening the traditions of peaceful and trusting coexistence of the peoples of the world, working together on the basis of dialogue and cooperation to solve global challenges, solve existing problems and build a better conflict-free future for future generations.

This initiative has become a kind of call to all states to realize their responsibility for the fate of the world, to stop the growing intolerance, to soberly analyze the current international situation, to rethink it from a historical and perspective point of view.

This call was heard and supported. And today, Turkmenistan, together with other countries, is embarking on targeted work to create conditions for returning international relations to a positive track, restoring trust in world politics, and establishing a culture of respectful dialogue. At present, these principles and goals look especially relevant against the background of existing systemic problems in international relations.

The common task is to turn the International Year of Dialogue as a Guarantee of Peace into a powerful creative process designed to give an incentive to cooperation and mutual understanding, convergence of positions, approval of the peace agenda, and the formation of positive trends in the long term.

The growing military-political confrontation, the problems associated with the consequences of the pandemic, the food crisis, information wars, the loss of trust in each other - all this is a very serious challenge for humanity. It is not only about military conflicts. Today the world is facing global environmental challenges. Only through cooperation, trust and joint efforts can a peaceful, prosperous and predictable future be guaranteed for our generations.

In this context, the activities of the Year are aimed at the following major tasks: strengthening international law and asserting the leading role of the UN in maintaining global peace and security; maintaining and strengthening strategic stability and supporting its integral part - disarmament processes; uncompromising struggle against international terrorism and cross-border crime; combating climate change; support for preventive diplomacy. It is also an expansion of the role of youth in promoting peace and security, in line with the UN Youth Strategy “Youth 2030”.

Turkmenistan invited the entire international community to join the implementation of the road map of the Year of Dialogue as a guarantee of peace, the draft of which is a document open to any initiatives and proposals.

Heads and representatives of the UN bodies and its specialized agencies and other regional organizations spoke at the event at the IIR of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan. The speakers included Chairman of the UN General Assembly Chaba Koroshi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, chairing the Non-Aligned Movement, Jeyhun Bayramov, UN Deputy Secretary-General for Combating Terrorism Vladimir Voronkov, Director General of the UN Office in Geneva Tatiana Valova, UNECE Executive Secretary Olga Algayerova, Deputy UN Secretary General for Political and Peace Affairs Miroslav Yencha, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, Head of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia Natalya Gherman, UN Resident Coordinator in Turkmenistan Dmitry Shlapachenko and many others.

The launched Global Campaign for Dialogue, as a guarantee of peace, has become a clear confirmation that Turkmenistan, being an active member of the world community, is not limited only to putting forward significant initiatives, but also takes consistent steps towards their practical implementation.

Bekdurdy AMANSARIEV

Photo: mfa.gov.tm