Turkmenistan President welcomes the presence of the voluntary US Peace Corps and their project implementation
Turkmen president, US ambassador discuss education, security, human rights
BBC Monitoring Central Asia
Mar 1, 2004
Turkmen President Saparmyrat Nyyazow and US ambassador Tracy Ann Jacobsen have highlighted cooperation and strengthening of ties in the fields of education, security and human rights to enhance understanding, ensure regional peace and the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking. On the humanitarian side, the president welcomed the presence of the voluntary US Peace Corps and their project implementation. Following is the text of report by Turkmen TV on 1 March:
[Presenter] This morning President of Turkmenistan Saparmyrat Turkmenbasy welcomed the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the USA in Turkmenistan, Tracy Ann Jacobsen.
Within the framework of the meeting, both sides discussed a broad spectrum of issues, first of all related to the prospect for further cooperation between the two countries by expressing mutual satisfaction with the level of Turkmen-American dialogue established during these years. As the head of state noted, the spirit of constructiveness is especially distinguished in bilateral cooperation in the humanitarian field. In this regard, Saparmyrat Turkmenbasy highly appraised the activities of the Peace Corps in Turkmenistan by expressing gratitude to the American ambassador for the effective work of this organization.
"Our country is fully supporting the noble aspirations of [Peace Corps] volunteers directed towards the implementation of important projects, and the expansion and enhancement of friendly ties between the people of the two countries," noted the president. Warmly thanking Saparmyrat Turkmenbasy for such kind words, Tracy Ann Jacobsen, in her turn, said that the American side is deeply touched by the attention of the head of state, who sent a special greeting on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the activities of this voluntary organization [Peace Corps] in Turkmenistan.
The special topic of discussion between the president and the American diplomat was the issue of cooperation in the field of education, in which strong and fruitful cooperation was established in recent years. In this regard, the US ambassador proposed a number of new educational programmes, which met the approval of head of the Turkmen state. As a counter initiative, Saparmyrat Turkmenbasy proposed the American side to elaborate educational programmes for Turkmen school children, first of all for those who live in rural areas. The aim of the projects is the enhanced learning of English, interest in which is constantly growing among the youth, and also teaching the young people professional skills in a number of specializations.
Talking about the great potential of Turkmen-American cooperation, Ms Tracy Ann Jacobsen expressed the interest of her country in the deepening and expansion of cooperation with Turkmenistan and the first step forward in this direction was the recent signing of an intergovernmental agreement on trade and development. According to the document, a grant of US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) amounting to 300,000 US dollars was provided to Turkmenistan in the form of technical training in using construction equipment, which is being delivered to Turkmenistan by the American company Caterpillar.
As is known, this company, which is a world leading producer, is among the Turkmen state's long-term partners.
During the meeting both sides noted a number of other spheres, where cooperation between Turkmenistan and USA was called upon to be highly successful and fruitful. Among these spheres is cooperation in the field of ensuring the security of a stable peace in the region, protection of the state border, the fight against international terrorism, and further realization of democratic reforms in Turkmen society. According to the words of the head of the American diplomatic mission, these most important directions are currently priorities in bilateral relations.
At the end of the meeting Saparmyrat Turkmenbasy expressed the hope that Turkmenistan and USA possess everything essential for strengthening the partnership and above all the intention of goodwill for this. After the meeting with the president of Turkmenistan, Saparmyrat Turkmenbasy, Ms Jacobsen was interviewed by journalists.
[Tracy Ann Jacobsen, in Russian] I am very pleased with this meeting, the opportunity to meet your President Saparmyrat Nyyazow. I hope this meeting is one of many such beneficial meetings. The president and I discussed ways for further cooperation in the field of education, security and human rights. I think and am confident that we have many opportunities for further cooperation in these fields. These three issues are our priorities. We would like to cooperate in the field of education because we consider education as a means to mutual understanding. Besides that, with regard to security, we would like to cooperate with Turkmenistan in the field of security, for instance against criminals, against narcotic drugs and against terrorists and we would like to cooperate with Turkmenistan in the fight against terrorism as we already have.
We would like to expand and improve our relations, especially in the field of humans rights as well.
