Ashgabat Center, Turkmenistan. General Assembly Recognizes Central Asian Countries as “Zone of Peace, Trust, and Cooperation” UN
On October 24, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution entitled “Zone of Peace, Trust and Cooperation in Central Asia,” submitted by Turkmenistan on behalf of the countries of the region. The document was co-sponsored by 37 states, including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, India, Iran, China, Russia and Turkey.
Ambassador of Turkmenistan to the UN Aksoltan Atayeva emphasized the importance of recognizing the Central Asian countries as such a zone – an international legal phenomenon that is being formed by analogy with the universally recognized and currently functioning zones of peace in various regions of the world, in particular in the South Atlantic, the Indian Ocean, Latin America and the Caribbean.
At the General Assembly meeting, it was particularly noted that the formation of a zone of peace in Central Asia became possible due to the institutional and legal basis for multilateral cooperation laid by the countries of the region, namely the creation of a mechanism for interaction between the Central Asian countries at the highest state level – regular Consultative Meetings of the Heads of State, the signing of the Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia in 2006, the establishment of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia in December 2007, and the formation of platforms for promoting regional dialogue in all key areas of cooperation.
The resolution emphasizes the role of the Central Asian countries in strengthening the global architecture of non-proliferation and disarmament, promoting the instruments of preventive diplomacy and peacekeeping.
Ataeva emphasized that the states of the region consider stability in the Zone of Peace, Trust and Cooperation taking into account the interdependence all elements of interaction: political, economic, environmental, food and humanitarian.
She drew the attention of the General Assembly delegates to a striking example of the realization of the potential of cultural diplomacy in the region – the International Forum “Interconnection of Times and Civilizations – the Basis of Peace and Development”, held on October 11 in Ashgabat, dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Turkmen poet Makhtumkuli Fragi.