At the expanded meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan held on Friday, at which the results of the work performed over the six months of the current year were summarized, the Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, Minister of Foreign Affairs Rashid Meredov reported on the performance results of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for January–June of the current year.
It was emphasized that during the period under review, relevant work was carried out aimed at fulfilling the tasks for the implementation of the foreign policy course of neutral Turkmenistan, conducted under the leadership of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov. In particular, activities aimed at developing friendly relations and constructive cooperation in bilateral and multilateral formats with foreign countries and international organizations were carried out.
As is known, a special role in building up international partnership is assigned to visits and meetings at the highest level. In this regard, visits of the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty Hero-Arkadag to a number of foreign countries were organized, in particular, on February 16–19 of this year – to the United States of America, March 18–19 – the People's Republic of China, April 8–9 – the Republic of Austria, May 13–14 – the Republic of Tatarstan of the Russian Federation, and May 16–17 – to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The President of Turkmenistan paid visits to the Republic of Kazakhstan on April 21–22 of the current year and to the Republic of Azerbaijan on June 22–23.
Among the key directions of the Fatherland's foreign policy strategy, the building up of an effective partnership with authoritative international structures has been defined. In this regard, Hero-Arkadag, within the framework of his visit to the Republic of Austria, held meetings with the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Director General of the UN Industrial Development Organization, and the Under-Secretary-General of the UN.
In addition, a number of leaders of international structures visited our country, in particular, on January 21–23 of the current year – the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, and on March 17–19 – the Secretary General of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia.
Within the framework of Turkmenistan's chairmanship in the CIS in 2026, meetings of various councils, commissions, and other meetings and events are being held. In this connection, a meeting of the heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Independent States took place in the capital on May 22nd, for participation in which the heads of government of the Commonwealth countries visited Turkmenistan.
During the period under review, 373 delegations arrived in our country on visits through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and 693 delegations from Turkmenistan traveled abroad.
During January–June, 253 meetings of various levels were conducted in online mode. In our country, 1,205 official negotiations and meetings with representatives of foreign states and international organizations were organized. The treaty and legal framework of international relations was replenished with 101 documents.
Work is also being carried out to hold political consultations with the foreign ministries of foreign countries. During the reporting period, political consultations of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan took place with the heads of the foreign ministries of the Republic of Austria, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the People's Republic of China, and the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as with the Secretary of State of the United States of America.
Along with this, during January–June 2026, consultations were held with the foreign ministries of the Republic of India, the Kingdom of Morocco, the Russian Federation, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Zimbabwe, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Uganda, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Kingdom of Cambodia, and Ukraine.
Furthermore, during the designated period, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan held talks with the Secretary-General of the UN, the President of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization, and the Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization.
Consistent steps are being taken to strengthen and expand diplomatic relations through embassies, which acts as one of the important directions of the foreign policy strategy of neutral Turkmenistan.
During January–June 2026, credentials were accepted from the newly appointed Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to our country of the Republic of Chad, the Republic of Indonesia, the Italian Republic, the Republic of Korea, the Argentine Republic, the Arab Republic of Egypt, and Finland.
At the same time, credentials were presented by the Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Turkmenistan to the Kingdom of Thailand, the United States of America, and Ireland, as well as by the Permanent Representatives of Turkmenistan to the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, officially assuming their duties.
Summarizing the report, the President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov noted that independent Turkmenistan, following the legal status of positive neutrality, implements a peace-loving "open doors" policy based on the principles of good neighborliness and mutually beneficial cooperation. In this regard, the head of state emphasized the importance of further developing productive partnership with the countries of the world in political-diplomatic, trade-economic, cultural-humanitarian, and scientific-educational spheres, as well as fruitful interaction with international structures.
This year, the holding of many international political events is envisaged, the President of Turkmenistan said, instructing the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs to proceed with the preparation of the international events planned in the country and ensure a high level of their organization.
