Foreign visits
Official Visit of President Serzh Sargsyan to Turkmenistan
On 8 April the official welcoming ceremony of President Serzh Sargsyan having arrived in Turkmenistan on an official visit took place at the Presidential Palace followed by President Serzh Sargsyan’s and Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow’s bilateral, as well as broadened negotiations of the two countries’ official delegations. As a result of the Armenian-Turkmen high-level negotiations a number of documents regarding the development and advancement of cooperation between Armenia and Turkmenistan were signed. These documents include: a Cooperation Agreement between the Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen of Armenia and the Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen of Turkmenistan; a Cooperation Agreement between Armenian State Institute of Physical Culture and the National Institute of Sports and Tourism of Turkmenistan; a Friendship and Cooperation Agreement between Yerevan and Ashgabat cities; a Memorandum of Mutual Understanding between the General Department of Civil Aviation of the Republic of Armenia and the State National Service Turkmenhovayollary; a 2014-2015 Cooperation Agreement between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, an Agreement on the Establishment of Reciprocal Trade Missions between the Government of the Republic of Armenia and the Government of Turkmenistan. The Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow signed an Armenian-Turkemen Joint Statement recapitulating the negotiation results.
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Armenian-Turkmen Joint Statement
From 8-9 April of 2014, on the invitation of Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow the official visit of the President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan to Turkmenistan took place.
During the negotiations held in a warm and friendly atmosphere, a constructive exchange of opinions on a whole complex of bilateral cooperation issues and international collaboration issues was made. The presidents assured that they had achieved mutual understanding on a broad range of issues.
The Presidents of the two countries admitted unanimously that the Armenian-Turkmen cooperation has made significant progress since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Armenia and Turkmenistan on the 9th of October of 1992.
Taking into account the high dynamics of the political interstate dialogue, the leaders of the two states appraised the implementation of the previously made arrangements and the concluded documents, approved the current condition of the Armenian-Turkmen relations, as well as affirmed their readiness to further reinforce those relations.
The Presidents of the Republic of Armenia and Turkmenistan maintained the proximity or the coincidence of their positions concerning the main geopolitical issues and expressed their intention to activate the mutually beneficial cooperation in the international arena. The presidents underscored that it was necessary to combine efforts in the framework of international and regional organizations of which the Republic of Armenia and Turkmenistan are members. The parties affirmed that it was important to increase the role of the United Nations and its agencies in dealing with global issues, ensuring sustainable development and reinforcing security and stability in the world.
Guided by the universal principles of the UN Charter and international law, the leaders of the two states agreed that it was necessary to further advance the political dialogue at the highest level and to improve the cooperation in trade and economic, scientific and technical, cultural and humanitarian, as well as in other spheres.
The presidents of the two states stressed the important role of the Armenian-Turkmen Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation Issues, especially its role to intensify practical collaboration in long-term spheres. Accordingly, the need for intensifying the Commission’s activities was underscored for the purpose of achieving concrete results in the trade and economic sphere. The presidents admitted that it was necessary to further reinforce the ties between the two states’ enterprises and entrepreneurs and welcomed the business conference to be held in Ashgabat.
The Presidents of the Republic of Armenia and Turkmenistan paid special attention to the cooperation in the humanitarian sphere stressing the importance of ties between relevant organizations, cultural figures, research centers, educational institutions and press media. An arrangement concerning the cooperation in the scientific and technical, sports and tourism spheres was made.
The leaders of the two states, welcoming the organization of Armenian Culture Days in Turkmenistan, agreed to take necessary measures to organize Turkmen Culture Days in the Republic of Armenia in 2015.
The Presidents of the Republic of Armenia and Turkmenistan stressed the importance of extending and improving the legal and contractual base of the bilateral cooperation.
The leaders of the two states expressed their willingness to reinforce the cooperation in the spheres of terrorism, illegal drug trade, illegal migration, transnational organized crime, the fight against illicit arms trading both at the bilateral level and in the framework of relevant international organizations.
The President of the Republic of Armenia thanked the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow for the hospitality extended to the Armenian delegation, as well as for the cordial and friendly reception and invited the President of Turkmenistan to conduct an official visit to the Republic of Armenia at a convenient time. The invitation was accepted with gratitude. The date of the visit will be coordinated through diplomatic channels.
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After the document signing ceremony, the Presidents of Armenia and Turkmenistan presented the negotiation results to the representatives of the mass media.
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President Serzh Sargsyan who is in Turkmenistan on an official visit on 8 April visited the mausoleum of the first President of independent Turkmenistan Saparmurat Niyazov (Turkmenbashi) located in Ghipchak village, a mosque and the Monument to the Constitution of Turkmenistan. The President of Armenia laid wreathes at the mausoleum of Turkmenbashi and at the Monument to the Constitution and paid tribute. Serzh Sargsyan also planted a tree at the Alley of Guests of Honor of the Monument to the Constitution.
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In the evening of April 8, on behalf of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow an official reception was held in honor of President Serzh Sargsyan having arrived in Turkmenistan on an official visit.
In their reciprocal toasts, Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow touched upon the centuries-old friendship of the Armenian and Turkmen peoples and their historical past, the present high level of the two countries’ relations and the continual advancement of those relations, as well as upon the opportunities of promoting mutually beneficial cooperation.
In his address, the President of Armenia thanked President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow for the genuine words addressed to the Armenian-Turkmen relations and the Armenian people. Speaking about the two peoples’ historically shaped relations, Serzh Sargsyan noted that they had a century-old history – the first Armenian-Turkmen contacts go back to 13-15th centuries. The President was sure that the historical past testified to the two peoples’ reciprocal respect and their intense relations based on the readiness to support each other in difficult situations. In that context, Serzh Sargsyan remembered with gratitude the friendly Turkmen people’s compassionate and hospitable attitude toward our compatriots caught in difficult situations who had reached former Krasnovodsk on ferry-boats as refugees seeking asylum during the tragic events taken place both in the beginning and at the end of the 20th century.
The president appreciated the Armenians of Turkmenistan who had huge successes in different spheres by stressing that they always contributed to Turkmenistan’s development and prosperity with readiness and honest desire. Enumerating a number of names, the president noted that there were a lot of such names and examples in the history of the Armenian-Turkmen friendly relations. Serzh Sargsyan stressed the importance of preserving and promoting the relations of such kind at which the RA President’s official visit was also targeted.
President Serzh Sargsyan raised a toast for the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, the further reinforcement of the friendship and cooperation between Armenia and Turkmenistan, as well as for the peace and well-being of the two countries’ peoples.
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In the framework of his official visit to Turkmenistan, President Serzh Sargsyan on 8 April left the capital city Ashgabat to Turkmenbashi city where he watched the concert of the cultural figures of the Republic of Armenia and Turkmenistan with President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow at Ruhiyat Cultural Palace.