Translated with AI
On April 22, a meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) was held in Astana. For Turkmenistan, this forum served as a platform for reaffirming its active role in addressing the largest environmental disaster of our time.
In his speech at the IFAS summit, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov described the Aral Sea issue as "a matter of honor, political, and moral responsibility" for the region's leaders. Turkmenistan's position is clear: the vital tasks of the Aral Sea basin must not be relegated to the background in the face of global change. On the contrary, the region needs to mobilize all its resources—from financial to diplomatic.
The President recalled that the foundation for current cooperation was largely laid during Turkmenistan's chairmanship of the IFAS (2017–2019). It was then that Ashgabat raised the Aral Sea issue to the level of the UN General Assembly, initiating historic resolutions on cooperation between the organizations.
Today, these efforts are taking on new forms:
The United Nations Special Programme for the Aral Sea Basin (UN SPAS): An idea first voiced by Turkmenistan at the Rio+20 summit has evolved into an ESCAP resolution and is now becoming a practical tool.
The President announced that this innovative hub, under the auspices of the UN, will soon begin operating in Ashgabat, becoming an intellectual center for environmental monitoring for all of Central Asia.
Serdar Berdimuhamedov emphasized: the Aral Sea cannot be saved in isolation. The sea's problem is inextricably linked to melting glaciers, desertification, and the management of transboundary rivers.
The head of Turkmenistan called for environmental security to be considered the foundation of social and economic well-being for the entire region. "Good neighborliness is the determining factor for prosperity"—this thesis became the leitmotif of Serdar Berdimuhamedov's speech.
Turkmenistan has put forward a concrete proposal to expedite the updating of the Fund's legal framework. This is necessary to make the IFAS more flexible and attractive to international financial institutions and donors.
As a next step, Serdar Berdimuhamedov proposed that the countries of the region jointly develop a new UN General Assembly Resolution. It should reflect current realities and consolidate IFAS's status as an important international player.
The summit concluded with the signing of a package of documents, notable among them the Astana Statement and the decision to establish March 26 as the International Day of the Aral Sea and the Amu Darya and Syr Darya Rivers. This decision symbolizes the transition to a new coordinate system in which shared water resources are recognized as the highest value.
In conclusion, Serdar Berdimuhamedov congratulated the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, on assuming his chairmanship of the IFAS.
