Berdimuhamedov addresses at the Turkic Council Video Summit on the issue of solidarity to tackle COVID-19
President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov participated at the Summit of the Turkic Council held in a format of videoconference. An extraordinary Summit focused on the topic of cooperation and solidarity on the fight against COVID-19 pandemic. The videoconference initiated by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, was attended by Kasym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Sooronbai Zheenbekov, President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of the Republic of Turkey, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary and Baghdad Amreyev, Secretary General of the Turkic Council, as well as Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The summit was opened by Ilham Aliyev, and then it was continued by his colleagues. Speaking at the forum, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov expressed the necessity of drawing up the coordinated actions to successfully oppose the common threat, and called on the peoples to demonstrate humanism and mutual support. Berdimuhamedov told about measures taken in Turkmenistan to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Meanwhile, security at border crossings, migration and customs controls have been tightened, international air flights have been restricted, the national health system is mobilized, etc. In the result of timely actions taken, the sanitary-epidemiological well-being of Turkmenistan is stable and is under control, the head of state noted. The Turkmen leader also shared the vision of ways of overcoming the negative impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the world economy, having emphasized the importance of maintaining stable trade, economic and transport relations, mutual supplies and transit traffic. It was underlined that thanks to the joint efforts of Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, the ferry service across the Caspian Sea between the ports of Turkmenbashi and Baku continues to operate, which provides freight flows in the vast geo-economic space. As for cooperation in the field of health care, the exchange of experience on the fight against coronavirus, Berdimuhamedov suggested holding television spacebridges, video conferences with the participation of doctors and experts from different countries. President also noted that today the support of those citizens who, due to the circumstances, had to stay outside their countries is of great importance. In this regard, he thanked his colleagues for their kind attitude and concern for the citizens of Turkmenistan who are currently in their countries. The same attitude was, is and will be towards foreign citizens residing in Turkmenistan, Berdimuhamedov said.
