Türkiye-Turkmenistan unity beneficial for global stability: Şentop

THE COOPERATION between Türkiye and Turkmenistan will make important contributions to stability in the world, Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop said Friday during a visit to the Central Asian country.

“Türkiye and Turkmenistan are two brotherly countries that have a respectable place in the international community with their stance in favor of peace and justice in international conflicts,” he said.

Şentop addressed the General Assembly of the National Council Assembly in Ashgabat, which he visited to conduct meetings.

Emphasizing that the two countries share a common historical, cultural and religious history and civilization, Şentop said: “We will build our common future with the strength we get from here. One of the most important turning points at which we started to build our common future was the opening of our first embassy in Ashgabat 30 years ago, as the first country to recognize independent Turkmenistan after Turkmenistan gained its independence.”

Pointing out that regional and global crises also contain some opportunities, Şentop said: “We should also evaluate the wide range of cooperation opportunities between our countries, ranging from economy to health, from transportation to energy.”

Şentop explained that the unity between Türkiye and Turkmenistan will make significant contributions to the stability of the world, adding: “The unity of our countries, which undertake their obligations to ensure international security, prosperity and peace, and strive to fulfill them duly, will always contribute to the security and stability of not only the region but the whole world. Today, when the course of history begins to change, we, as the Turkic states, must serve together so that the global system to be reconstructed will be rendered in a way that will benefit all humanity with the balance of rights, justice, humanity and freedom.”

Emphasizing that the Turkish world has become the center of global geopolitics, Şentop said that it is also important to develop cooperation between the parliaments of Türkiye and Turkmenistan.

Türkiye is the first country that recognized Turkmenistan, on Oct. 27, 1991, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and to open its embassy in Ashgabat on Feb. 29, 1992. Türkiye also supports Turkmenistan’s permanent neutral status.

Bound by a common history, language, religion and culture, the two countries enjoy balanced special relations based on mutual respect, cooperation and the principle of “One Nation, Two States.” The two countries are cooperating in the fields of foreign policy, trade, economy, culture and education.

Turkmenistan is also an observer member of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), which is an interstate bloc, established with the aim of expanding cooperation between Turkish-speaking countries in the fields of politics, economics, science, education, transport and tourism.

The members of the organization are Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Türkiye and Uzbekistan. Hungary and Turkmenistan have observer status in the organization.

The group could expand further if isolated Turkmenistan becomes a fully-fledged member – an expansion announced by Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry but not confirmed by Ashgabat. If Turkmenistan does join, the union set up in 2009 will incorporate all the Central Asian countries that speak languages in the Turkic group.

Members of the OTS should develop a common security concept and increase their cooperation when it comes to preventing and managing irregular migration, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said last week during a summit in Uzbekistan.

Later in the day, Şentop held a one-onone meeting with Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov. Türkiye will continue to back Turkmenistan on all international platforms, the Turkish official said.