21.04.2008 (Turkmenistan.Ru) At a meeting on April 21, President of the UN General Assembly Srgjan Kerim invited Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to attend the summit of heads of state to be held in New York on September 25 as part of the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly. The meeting was also attended by acting UN Resident Coordinator in Turkmenistan Waheed Hassan.
Having appreciated the invitation, the Turkmen leader said he would definitely attend the forthcoming world summit, the Turkmen State News Agency (TDH) reports. According to Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Turkmenistan, counting on the broad international cooperation in the name of the global peace and prosperity, attaches great importance to the further development of the strategic partnership with the UN and realizes in practice its neutral status conferred on it by the UN. "We are developing a constructive dialogue with all countries, and first of all with neighboring countries," the president said referring to Turkmenistan's relations with Afghanistan.
Srgjan Kerim, in turn, noted that the UN sees Turkmenistan as its key strategic partner in the Central Asian region which is evidenced by the opening of the UN regional center for preventive diplomacy in Ashgabat. The sides also touched on the international initiative set forth earlier by Turkmenistan in the field of energy security. As Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said, Turkmenistan sets out for actively discussing a UN Convention on providing security for international pipelines.
President of the UN General Assembly Srgjan Kerim also held talks at the Mejlis (national parliament) and the ministry of foreign affairs of Turkmenistan in the second half of the day.
