Turkmenistan has finalised the document entitled ‘The Country’s Priority Positions for the Upcoming 81st Session of the UN General Assembly’. This was announced on 24 July at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers by Rashid Meredov, Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan and Foreign Affairs Minister, according to the news agency TDH.

The document has been drawn up taking into account the international initiatives of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov. Following its publication, it will be submitted to the UN Secretariat and circulated amongst the organisation’s member states.

Among the key priorities of the foreign policy agenda are the strengthening of peace and security, and the development of preventive diplomacy and multilateral cooperation. Turkmenistan intends to hold consultations on the creation of a Strategy for Universal Peace, to propose that the years 2027–2037 be declared the Decade of Dialogue and Preventive Diplomacy, and to put forward an initiative to establish a Group of Friends of Multilateralism and the Sovereign Equality of States.

There are also plans to continue work on establishing an Academic Centre for Peace, Neutrality and Preventive Diplomacy under the Institute of International Relations of the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

In the digital sphere, Turkmenistan will propose the development, under the auspices of the UN, of an International Code on the Peaceful Use of Artificial Intelligence in International Relations and Diplomacy. In the environmental sphere, plans include the establishment of the Ashgabat Climate Dialogue and support for regions facing water scarcity and drought.

In the transport sector, the country will continue work on compiling the Global Atlas of Sustainable Transport Connectivity and will put forward initiatives to establish an International Centre for Trade Logistics and Customs Cooperation, as well as a ‘South Asia–Central Asia–Europe’ trans-regional corridor via the Caspian Sea.

Furthermore, Turkmenistan will continue to promote the initiative to declare 2028 the Year of International Law and to host a global forum in Ashgabat. These measures are also linked to preparations for the country’s candidacy for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the period 2031–2032.