The foreign policy of Independent and Permanently Neutral Turkmenistan is implemented based on the Constitution of Turkmenistan, the constitutional laws of Turkmenistan, other regulatory legal acts, the generally recognized principles and norms of international law, as well as the international treaties and conventions in which Turkmenistan participates.
Turkmenistan continues international cooperation based on the principles of good-neighborliness, equality, mutual respect, and mutual benefit, considering the long-term and short-term goals and objectives of foreign policy development as determined in the “National Program for the Socio-Economic Development of Turkmenistan for 2022-2052” and derived from the key initiatives of the President of Turkmenistan and the priorities of the Government of Turkmenistan.
By pursuing broad international cooperation and upholding noble goals such as peace, security, and the promotion of supreme humanistic values, Turkmenistan aims to contribute to maintaining peace and security, promoting its Permanent Neutrality status globally, expanding and diversifying foreign economic relations, and fostering sustainable development and more humanitarian international relations.
The main objectives of Turkmenistan’s foreign policy include:
• Contributing to international peace, security, and sustainable development;
• Strengthening Turkmenistan’s position in the global political arena;
• Consistently protecting the national interests of the country within the international relations system.
With these high objectives in mind, Turkmenistan’s foreign policy focuses on ensuring a comprehensive and reliable security system, strengthening the country’s independence and sovereignty, and strictly adhering to its Permanent Neutrality status while contributing to international peace, security, and sustainable development.
Turkmenistan reaffirms its commitment to fostering and expanding friendly, equal, and mutually beneficial relations with foreign countries and international organizations, ensuring its equitable integration into the global economic, cultural, and humanitarian spheres, and creating necessary conditions for further development and diversification of these relations.
By actively promoting a just and democratic international system based on equal and mutually beneficial cooperation among states, Turkmenistan supports collective initiatives for resolving international issues, the supremacy of international law – primarily the principles of the United Nations Charter – and the central coordinating role of the UN in global governance.
Turkmenistan prioritizes developing comprehensive relations with interstate associations, international structures, and forums based on the principles of friendship, openness, multi-vector diplomacy, and respect for national interests.
The country successfully implements its foreign policy strategy based on equality, mutual respect, and mutual benefit. Currently, Turkmenistan has established diplomatic relations with 155 countries worldwide.
Turkmenistan continues to strengthen and expand strategic relations with countries in the region, particularly by increasing natural gas and oil exports, maintaining an equitable dialogue with consumer and transit countries of energy resources, and developing cooperation in renewable energy.
To facilitate favorable trade and economic relations between Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, Turkmenistan implements relevant measures to utilize its advantageous geographical location by increasing transit cargo flows.
In its foreign policy strategy, Turkmenistan further strengthens comprehensive cooperation with countries of the Middle East region, paying great attention to the development of trade-economic and humanitarian relations. Another major direction of the country’s foreign policy is fostering multilateral and mutually beneficial friendly relations with African countries. In its cooperation with African states, Turkmenistan has already achieved significant results in the political-diplomatic sphere and continues to implement its foreign policy tasks in this direction. Establishing trade-economic cooperation opportunities through neighboring regional countries is also a priority.
Turkmenistan remains committed to expanding bilateral and international cooperation with North American countries. It focuses on increasing political dialogue and developing mutually beneficial trade and economic partnerships. Strengthening bilateral and multilateral relations with Latin American and Caribbean nations is also among Turkmenistan’s foreign policy priorities.
Turkmenistan places special emphasis on strengthening relations with neighboring states and creating an atmosphere of friendship, trust, good-neighborliness, and mutually beneficial cooperation. Accordingly, Turkmenistan actively contributes to enhancing the effectiveness of various cooperation formats involving Central Asian states.
The country promotes modern approaches to international cooperation in political-diplomatic, economic, trade, energy, environmental, and cultural-humanitarian fields in partnership with international organizations and within the framework of regional formats such as “Central Asia + 1” dialogues, including “Central Asia – European Union,” “Central Asia – Russia,” “Central Asia – United States,” “Central Asia – China,” “Central Asia – India,” “Central Asia – Japan,” and “Central Asia – Republic of Korea.”
Turkmenistan effectively cooperates with 54 reputable international and regional organizations, contributing to the strengthening of peace and trust, the formation of a balanced and unifying global agenda, and the promotion of cultural understanding. The country actively supports the programs, plans, and projects of international organizations such as the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), and others. Turkmenistan aims to widely implement international agreements and conventions while fulfilling its international obligations.
As a responsible member of the international community and in line with its status as a neutral state, Turkmenistan promotes a philosophy of trust-based dialogue in international relations and firmly adheres to the principle “Dialogue Is the Guarantee of Peace.” In this regard, Turkmenistan actively promotes initiatives of global significance, systematically opposes the spread and recognition of the “ideology of force” in international relations through political and diplomatic means, and advocates diplomatic negotiations as the only acceptable method for resolving international conflicts.
Turkmenistan actively participates in the efforts of the United Nations to ensure the protection of human life and well-being, guarantee human rights and freedoms, prevent political and economic crises, and respect the development achievements of different nations. The country also takes part in initiatives aimed at addressing modern threats and challenges, mitigating their impacts, and ensuring global peace and security.
