Speech by Mr. Richard Young on the occasion of Neutrality Day

Ashgabat, 8 December 2008

Your Excellencies,

Distinguished Participants,

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

8 December 2008. It is a pleasure and a great honour for me to address this conference today. First of all, let me start by thanking the Government of Turkmenistan, in particular the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for inviting me to participate in this event as well as by extending a warm greeting to all participants sitting in this room.

The Status of Permanent Neutrality conferred on Turkmenistan by the UN General Assembly in 1995 has become an important development in the country’s life, and eventually influenced its foreign and domestic policies. As we all know, by applying to the status of permanent neutrality, Turkmenistan was guided by its desire to contribute to developing peaceful, friendly and mutually beneficial relations with the countries of the region and other States of the world. If we look deeply into the interrelationship between peace and development of mutual and friendly relations, I think we can see that the overarching philosophy behind it is the concept of national security ensured through security in the wider context. National security, in its turn, is closely linked with the well-being of the country’s people.  

I believe that Turkmenistan has remained committed to the spirit of permanent neutrality. It has not been a member or part of any global or regional military alliance or organization and also has not accommodated any foreign military bases on its territory. Turkmenistan did, however, participate effectively in the international efforts focused on restoration of post-war Afghanistan by providing air and land corridors for humanitarian relief supplies.

There are other notable evidences of Turkmenistan’s contribution to maintaining peace and security in the region. For example, Turkmenistan initiated the holding, under UN auspices, of a continuous round of inter-Tajik talks in Ashgabat which advanced the establishment of peace in Tajikistan. In 1999, Turkmenistan also laid the ground for political dialogue in Afghanistan by providing a forum in Ashgabat for the first negotiations between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance. The wars in Tajikistan and Afghanistan created an influx of refugees to Turkmenistan and the country’s willingness to accept thousands of refugees and provide them with humanitarian assistance was commendable. Since then, Turkmenistan has registered more than 10,000 refugees as Turkmen citizens. Moreover, Turkmenistan continues to provide humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan as a friendly and supportive neighbouring country. Indeed, in a recent meeting with President Berdymuhamedov, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan highly acknowledged the decision of the Turkmen Leadership to provide an uninterrupted supply of electricity and liquefied gas to Afghanistan on favorable terms.

I am therefore confident in saying that Turkmenistan, in the framework of its neutrality status, has contributed much to promoting regional peace and stability. And it is very encouraging to see the increasing level of Turkmenistan’s participation in addressing humanity’s present challenges, particularly in the Central Asian region, through various international and regional forums, and first and foremost through the United Nations. The Central Asian countries face an array of new threats such as drug trafficking, terrorism, water scarcity and environmental degradation, including the effects of climate change. Turkmenistan is already well engaged with the neighbouring countries to seek ways of jointly addressing these pressing development and security issues. The United Nations agencies support these efforts and I believe this assistance has been considerably strengthened this year by the addition of the Ashgabat-based UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia to the family of UN agencies operating in Turkmenistan and the region.

Distinguished participants,

It is also very symbolic that Turkmenistan’s Neutrality Day is celebrated just prior to the marking of the 60th anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The UDHR is the foundation of international human rights law, the first universal statement on the basic principles of inalienable human rights, and a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations.

The United Nations has been instrumental in moving the international human rights agenda forward and it does so in close partnership with member-states. The impartiality and the neutral status of the United Nations place the organization in a unique position to assist governments and civil society in their efforts to protect and promote all human rights, as envisaged in the Declaration. The United Nations recognizes the linkages between conflict prevention, global and national security and human rights. In this context, we can define the concept of ‘human security’ as the ability of people to pursue choices in a safe environment and on an equal basis with others. Furthermore, it can be strongly argued that global security is best enhanced when state leaders focus on reducing human vulnerabilities as the best pathway to state security.  We face daunting new challenges in this respect, the magnitude and multifaceted aspects of which require our collective response. These challenges include climate change, the food crisis, globalization, terrorism, and new or resurgent epidemics. All these challenges have direct repercussions on the enjoyment of rights and I should probably add the financial crisis as a new challenge to this list.

Allow me to focus on one topic that has been the subject of much debate but is already affecting the world – that of climate change. Notwithstanding the different positions on this issue, one thing is clear – climate-related upheavals pose a direct threat to a wide range of universally recognized human rights, such as the right to life, to food, to adequate housing and water. The consequences of calamitous weather conditions have already been seen in many parts of the world, including Central Asia which suffered a severe cold spell last winter. A human rights approach compels us to look at the people whose lives are most adversely affected. It provides the legal rationale and grounds to advocate the integration of human rights obligations into policies and programmes countering the negative effects of environmental challenges.

I believe that neutral Turkmenistan has a key role to play in regional cooperation on the important challenge of climate change. The recent dialogue on water-energy issues held by the Central Asian Heads of State at the CIS Summit in Bishkek, and attended by the Head of the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy, was a most encouraging development. Moreover, UNDP has been engaged with the Government of Turkmenistan this year to develop a programme aimed to mitigate and adapt to climate change. We look forward to further progress on this initiative.

In conclusion, I firmly believe that the successful application of Turkmenistan’s status of permanent neutrality, anchored to its national security and national stability, is contributing to regional peace and security and I would like to highly commend Turkmenistan’s efforts towards this end. Let me end by congratulating, on behalf of the United Nations agencies in Turkmenistan, the President and Government of Turkmenistan on the occasion of Neutrality Day and wishing all the people of Turkmenistan peace, wellbeing and prosperity.