President of Turkmenistan Puts Forward Initiative to Mark 2019 as Year of Peace and Trust

This session of the General Assembly is taking place against a background of complex trends in international politics, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov noted in his Address to the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly that is taking place at the headquarters of the Organization in New York.

In spite of the efforts of the international community, primarily represented by the United Nations, the situation in a number of regions of the globe continues to be complicated; there has been a proliferation of conflict-prone areas, at the same time there has been a decrease in the overall level of trust and mutual understanding in our views on how best to promote global development. In these circumstances, the issue of ensuring comprehensive, lasting and long-term security is too apparent and pertinent, and this means the responsibility for mankind’s destiny must be borne by every state, the President of Turkmenistan said.

We believe that the United Nations needs to play the main and decisive role in preserving the foundations of international order that is based on the principles of mutual respect, equality and peaceful political dialog. The legitimacy of this mission of the United Nations cannot be brought into doubt. The United Nations is the only universal international organization in place to ensure multilateral cooperation to strengthen international security and sustainable development, the head of state noted.

This General Assembly’s session’s role is to help overcome this crisis of confidence and to strengthen mutual understanding among member states. In this regard, the President of Turkmenistan put forward an initiative to have 2019 as the Year of Peace and Trust.

Our initiative envisages developing specific measures to reduce tensions, to promote the peaceful, political and diplomatic resolution of disputes and disagreements, and to adopt here responsible and balanced decisions, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov stressed.