Today, the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted a solemn conference “Turkmenistan-UNESCO: cooperation for prosperity”, dedicated to the 30th anniversary of our country’s accession to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The forum, organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was attended by some Deputy Chairmen of the Cabinet of Ministers, heads and employees of ministries and departments, public organizations, diplomatic representations and missions accredited in our country, international structures, student youth and the media.

On the occasion of a significant date, an exhibition was launched in the foyer of the university, the exposition of which consisted of samples of fine and decorative arts, traditional folk crafts, famous Turkmen carpets, national clothes and jewelry, musical instruments. Being material evidence of the original cultural heritage, they contain the beauty and depth of the soul of the people, carried through the centuries and carefully preserved rich spiritual traditions.

The books of the National Leader of the Turkmen people Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov took place of honor here.

In the speeches of the participants of the celebration, it was noted that as a result of the successful continuation by President Serdar Berdimuhamedov of the noble undertakings initiated by the Hero-Arkadag, the country attaches special importance to the consistent expansion of cooperation with specialized UN structures, in particular, with UNESCO.

In the address of the National Leader of the Turkmen people Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to the President of Turkmenistan, sincere congratulations are expressed on the 30th anniversary of our country’s membership in UNESCO, widely celebrated in the year “Happy Youth with Arkadag Serdar”.

As the message emphasized, the expansion of cultural ties of Turkmenistan with international organizations in the era of the Revival of the new era of a powerful state is an important component of creating a single cultural space and a common system for enhancing intercultural contacts. Along with economic and political cooperation, this creates favorable conditions for strengthening the dialogue of cultures, increasing the glory of the Homeland in the international arena.

In the speech of the Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, Minister of Foreign Affairs R. Meredov, emphasis was placed on the fact that in the address of the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, sent to the President of Turkmenistan and all the Turkmen people, it is emphasized that the development of cooperation with the UN education, science and culture (UNESCO) is one of the priority areas of the foreign policy strategy implemented in the era of the Revival of the new epoch of the powerful state. In the inaugural speech of the head of state, Serdar Berdimuhamedov, it was noted that measures would be taken to carefully preserve and study historical and cultural heritage sites, restore historical and cultural monuments, and include them in the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Reviewing the results of 30 years of cooperation, the forum participants stated that Turkmenistan has established itself as one of the active partners of this specialized UN structure, participating in many of its projects and programs aimed at developing international humanitarian and intercultural relations. The great importance attached to the traditional long-term dialogue is clearly evidenced by the National Commission for UNESCO in our country.

The legal base of the established fruitful cooperation is being consistently strengthened. To date, Turkmenistan has ratified 12 UNESCO Conventions in a number of important areas. The country is actively working to implement the UNESCO World Heritage program aimed at preserving and popularizing natural or man-made objects of special cultural, historical or environmental significance.

As the forum participants stated, work continues on the nomination of monuments located along the main routes of the Great Silk Road between such large ancient Turkmen cities as Dehistan, Nisa, Merv, Serakhs, Amul, Kunyaurgench in this nomination.

In 2011, Turkmenistan joined the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and since then has been actively participating in international efforts to implement its provisions.

In this regard, it was noted that in 2015 the epic “Gorogly” nominated by our country was included in the UNESCO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The historical and cultural value, artistic and aesthetic significance of this outstanding example of oral Turkmen folk art, which reflect such traits of the national character as nobility, courage, loyalty, honesty, friendship, are undeniable.

At the initiative of our country, the Novruz Bayramy nomination was considered during the Intergovernmental Committee for the Preservation of the Intangible Cultural Heritage on November 30, 2016 in the city of Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

In 2017, the Turkmen national art of singing and dancing “kushtdepdi” was included in the List. This colorful example of folk art, embodying the continuous connection of times and generations, is now a vivid example of the organic combination of centuries-old spiritual experience and the primordial traditions of the nation with the creative energy of modernity.

And of course, the subject of sincere pride of our people is the inclusion in 2019 of the Turkmen national art of carpet weaving in the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Carpets woven by talented Turkmen craftswomen have always been highly valued in the world. These man-made masterpieces, captivating with their beauty, grace and harmony of the color palette, are an artistic reflection of the spiritual identity of our people, their enormous creative potential.

In the modern historical era, Turkmen carpet gels have become one of the national symbols of the independent neutral Homeland, decorating the State Flag of Turkmenistan. A great contribution to the popularization of this unique art in the world are the books of the National Leader of the Turkmen people, dedicated to the traditions of Turkmen carpet weaving that originated in the depths of centuries, which today are enriched with new content. The works of the Hero-Arkadag translated into foreign languages attracted the attention of the readership in different countries of the world, and it was emphasized in the speeches of the forum delegates.

The List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity also included the craft of making the dutar, performing musical art on it, and the art of bakhshi. This decision was unanimously adopted during the 16th session of the above Intergovernmental Committee, held in Paris (French Republic) in December 2021.

Last year, at the initiative of Turkmenistan, the Representative List was supplemented with such types of intangible heritage as “Turkmen art of embroidery”, “Sericulture and traditional production of silk for weaving” and “Traditions of retelling the parables of Molla Ependi”.

As it is known, on May 15 of this year, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov met with the director of the UNESCO Cluster Office in Tehran, Ms. Golda El-Khoury, who arrived in our country on this occasion, within which the relevant certificates were presented.

It was emphasized that activities are actively continuing to expand the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, in which, at the suggestion of the National Leader of the Turkmen people Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, traditions associated with Akhalteke horse breeding and decoration of this breed of horses, breeding dogs of the Alabai breed are nominated.

Along with this, proposals are presented for the following nominations: “Turkmen felt art”, “Turkmen blacksmithing”, “Turkmen tazy and hunting falcon”, “Turkmen national wrestling goresh”, “Underground kyarizes of Turkmens and mirab traditions”, etc. Work is also underway on inclusion of Ashgabat in the network of UNESCO Creative Cities.

The assets of long-term cooperation include large-scale comprehensive activities to study the richest cultural heritage of the Turkmen people, effective interaction in the scientific and educational sphere and other areas. Joint scientific conferences and training seminars for specialized specialists are regularly held.

Today, under the leadership of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, the multifaceted bilateral partnership with this UN specialized agency is expanding and filled with new concrete content. In recent years, as a result of the successful implementation of the UNITWIN / UNESCO educational program, UNESCO chairs have been established at the Turkmen State University named after Magtymguly and the Turkmen State Pedagogical Institute named after Seyitnazar Seydi, six general education schools of the country are included in the system of UNESCO Associated Schools.

UNESCO Clubs have been created at the Turkmen National Institute of World Languages named after Dovletmammet Azadi, the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan and the Turkmen Agricultural Institute. During this period, the National Committee for the “Man and the Biosphere” program was founded in the country, and concrete steps were taken to implement it.

As it was emphasized in the speeches, starting from 2021, the international program “Memory of the World” established by UNESCO in 1992 with the aim of preserving and widely popularizing the World Documentary Heritage, is being actively implemented. As a result of the joint work carried out with the experts of this Organization, for the first time, the heritage of the great Turkmen poet Magtymguly Fraghi, represented by Turkmenistan, was included in the Memory of the World register. This decision was made on May 24 this year at the 216th session of the UNESCO Executive Board.

At this session, it was also decided and recommended to the General Conference to authorize UNESCO to take part in the celebration in 2024-2025 of the 46 memorable dates proposed by the Member States, which also includes the “300th anniversary of the birth of the poet Magtymguly Fraghi”.

In the future, new areas of bilateral cooperation are opening up in such areas as digital technologies, climate change, water resources management, sports and tourism. Our country pays great attention to joint activities in these industries, which are key segments of sustainable development at the national, regional and international levels.

Turkmenistan intends to continue to promote a unifying agenda in UNESCO for wider participation in the strategically important projects of this Organization. Among the priorities are science, education, culture, programs in the field of youth policy, sports and communications.

The UN Resident Coordinator in our country Dmitry Shlapachenko, Director of the UNESCO Cluster Office in Tehran Golda El-Khoury, Chargé d’Affaires of the OSCE Center in Ashgabat Rune Kastberg and representatives of UNESCO structural divisions in their speeches expressed their sincere gratitude to President Serdar Berdimuhamedov for the contribution of Turkmenistan to the expansion of fruitful partnerships with UN agencies and international organizations, for the openness of a constructive dialogue.

As it was noted, the Turkmen state regularly provides a platform for meetings and forums where a thorough exchange of views takes place on various issues and prospects for cooperation within the UN, and today’s conference is a clear confirmation of this.

It was stated that over thirty years of cooperation, great success has been achieved in the implementation of the UNESCO mandate in our country, as well as in increasing the cultural, educational and scientific potential. This especially applies to issues related to the international recognition of the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Turkmenistan.

Foreign guests, noting the active role of our country in addressing issues of regional and global importance, highlighted that the joint activities of authoritative structures, including UNESCO and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), are intended to facilitate global peace, equal and sustainable development.

In this context, emphasis was placed on the significance of the initiative of Turkmenistan to develop confidence as a tool for ensuring peace and security and its compliance with the concept and program of UNESCO to maintain a culture of peace. Hero-Arkadag and President Serdar Berdimuhamedov were addressed with words of sincere gratitude for their activities in this direction.

The participants expressed confidence in the further successful continuation of the traditional cooperation between UNESCO and Turkmenistan, noting the importance of deepening the fruitful cultural and humanitarian dialogue as a key factor in ensuring common well-being and prosperity.

At the end of the solemn conference, its participants adopted a grateful appeal to the President of Turkmenistan.