16 January 2021 № 3 (472)

PRESIDENTS OF TURKMENISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN OPEN NEW PARTNERSHIP MAINLINES Celebrations Marking the Commissioning of International Transport, Energy and Communications Lines In Turkmenabat, celebrations were held on the occasion of the commission- ing of a 30-kilometre railway between the Aqina and Andkhoy stations of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, a 153-kilometre power transmission line with a voltage of 500 kilovolts along the Kerki (Turkmenistan) – Shebergan (Afghani- stan) route and Imamnazar–Aqina and Serhetabat–Torghundi international fi- bre-optic lines between our countries. The ceremony was attended by the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Mo- hammad Ashraf Ghani. The implementation of joint projects once again convincingly demonstrated the commitment of the two states and fraternal peoples to the traditionally friendly, constructive dialogue and Turkmenistan’s active support for the socio- economic development of Afghanistan. The comprehensive approaches to the solution of the Afghan problem, pro- posed by the Turkmen leader Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, will undoubtedly serve to establishing peace and stability in the neighbouring country. This is re- flected in concrete actions to involve Afghanistan in energy, transport and eco- nomic ties between the region and the world. Undoubtedly, with the commissioning of the new mainlines of partnership, opportunities for the effective realisation of the transit and transport potential of the two states, their fruitful interaction in the energy and communication -sec tors and integration into the system of modern international economic relations will expand. In the morning, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov arrived in the town of Turkmenabat. From there, the head of state proceeded to the Ruhyýet Palace of the Lebap velayat, the venue of a space bridge that brought together the participants of the opening ceremonies in Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. The Turkmen leader was the first to be given the floor. Addressing his counterpart Mohammad Ashraf Ghani with the words “Dear brother!” and other participants in the celebration, the head of the Turkmen state noted that day was a great holiday in the life of the two countries. The construction of three large facilities, a railway section between the Aqina and Andkhoy stations, a power transmission line in the Kerki– Sheberghan route and an international fibre-optic communication system and transit flows in the Imamnazar–Aqina and Serhetabat–Torghundi directions, was completed. After sincerely congratulating everyone on such a significant event, the head of Turkmenistan expressed gratitude to the Turkmen and Afghan specialists for the large-scale work performed with great skill both in the development and implementation of the promising projects. The national leader noted all of them had been implemented in ashort time and had common goals – to give a powerful impetus to the long-term development of our countries and to contribute to the prosperity and well- being of the Turkmen and Afghan peoples, broad international cooperation, mutual understanding and sustainable political and social progress. 2

¤¤¤ tion, du­ring which the ur­gent tasks of the ¤¤¤ ¤¤¤ Pre­si­dent Gurbanguly Ber­di­mu­ha­me­dov furt­her socioecono­mic develop­ment of An event devoted to the mot­to of 2021 The next is­sue of the Mi­ras Quar­ter­ con­ducted via di­gi­tal com­mu­nications the count­ry and other­ is­sues of the stat­e “Turk­me­nis­tan – the Home­ of Peace and ly Popu­ lar­ Science Jour­nal has been­ the first mee­ting of the Cabine­ t of Minis­­ li­fe we­re con­si­de­red. Trust” was held at the Mu­kam Palace­ of the pub­lis­hed. The pe­rio­dical, pub­lis­hed by ters in 2021, the mott­o of which is “Turk­ ¤¤¤ Sta­te Cul­tu­ral Cent­re. Mag­tym­gu­ly Ins­ti­tu­te of Lan­gua­ge, Li­te­ me ­nis­tan – the Home­ of Peace and Trust” Pre­si­dent Gurbanguly Ber­di­mu­ha­me­dov, ¤¤¤ ra­tu­re and Na­tio­nal Ma­nuscripts of the with the par­ticipa­tion of the hyakims­ of the who was to the Lebap­ velayat on a wor­ The topic­ of neut­ra­li­ty, its 25th an­niver­ Acade m­ y of Sciences and addr­es­sed to velayats and the city of Ash­gabat.­ Prio­ri­ty king trip, con­ducted an exten­ded off­ sa­ry, wi­de­ly and so­lemn­ly celeb­ra­ted last a wi­de rea­ders­hip, con­ti­nues a se­ries of is­sues of the stat­e li­fe and drafts of a num­ si ­te sitting­ of the Cabi­net of Minis­ ­ters year in our countr­y, became the ma­in one pub­lications about new discoveries and ber of documents wer­e brought for­ward at the Ru­hy­ýet Palace,­ at which so­me LATEST NEWS ine the ma­t ­rials of the pub­lis­hed special the re­sults of re­search in­to the his­to­rical, for discus­sion. is­sues of the stat­e li­fe we­re discus­sed, is­sue of the Poli­­tics and Society Scien­tif­ic cul­tu­ral and spi­ri­tual he­ri­ta­ge of the Turk­ ¤¤¤ and a num­ber of draft documents wer­e and Theo­re­tical Jour­nal pub­lis­hed by the men peop­le. Pre­si­dent Gurbanguly Ber­di­mu­ha­me­dov con­si­de­red. ructi­on and Develop­ment in Turk­me­nis­tan Archive Fund of the Pre­si­dent of Turk­me­nis­ ¤¤¤ received the new­ly ap­poin­ted Am­bas­sa­ ¤¤¤ (EBRD) was held at the Mi­nist­ry of Fi­nance tan of the Ma­in Archive Di­rector­a­te un­der The develop­ment of bi­la­te­ral coo­ dor Extraor­di­na­ry and Ple­ni­po­ten­tia­ry of The Pre­si­dent of Turk­me­nis­tan and Econo­my. the Cabi­net of Mi­nis­ters. pea r­ ­tion and its pros­pects wer­e put on the Peop­le’s Re­pub­lic of Chi­na to Turk­me­ Gurbanguly Ber­di­mu­ha­me­dov sent de­ep ¤¤¤ ¤¤¤ the agenda­ of a wor­king video mee­ nis ­tan Qian Naicheng. con­do­lences to the Presi­ dent­ of the Re­ Thet Mi­nis ­ry of For­eign Af­fairs hos­ted a The ­se da­ys, anot­her is­sue of the De­ ting with rep­re­sen­ta­tives of the Eu­ro­pean ¤¤¤ pub­lic of In­do­ne­sia Jo­ko Wi­do­do over the brie ­fing by the He­ad of the OSCE Cent­re mocracy and Law Quar­ter­ly Scienti­ ­fic and Bank for Reconstr­uction­ and Develop­ Pre­si­dent Gurbanguly Ber­di­mu­ha­me­dov crash of a passen­ ger­ pla­ne of Sriw­ i­jaya in Ash­gabat,­ Ms Na­taly­ a Drozd with the App­lied Jour­nal was pub­lis­hed. The ma­te­ ment (EBRD), which was at­tended­ by con­ducted in videocon­fe­rence mo­de a Air, which had cau­sed nume­ ­rous casual­ par­ticipa­tion of rep­re­sen­ta­tives of the rials of this is­sue of the jour­nal, pub­lis­hed by thes lea­der ­hip and specia­lists of the Mi­ wor­king mee­ting with the par­ticipa­tion of ties. dip­loma­ tic­ corps and the me­dia and al­ the Ins­ti­tu­te of Stat­e, Law and De­mocracy nist ­ry of Finance­ and Econom­ y and the so­me De­pu­ty Chair­men of the Cabi­net of ¤¤¤ so teachers of the Ins­ti­tu­te of In­ter­na­tio­nal of Turk­me­nis­tan, are devoted to the sig­ni­ Halk bank­ Joint-Stock Commer­ cial Bank Mi ­nis­ters, the hya­kims of the Ahal and Das­ A wor­king mee­ting with a repr­e­sen­ Re­la­tions of the Mi­nist­ry of Fo­reign Af­fairs ficant da­te of the year 2020 – the 25th an­ and also­ the head­ of the EBRD of­fice in ho ­guz velayats and the Mi­nis­ter of Educa­ ta tiv­ e of the Eu­ro­pean Bank for Reconst­ of the countr­y. niver­sa­ry of the neut­ra­li­ty of Turk­me­nis­tan. Turk ­me­nis­tan. 2 Saturday 16 January 2021 PRESIDENTS OF TURKMENISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN OPEN NEW PARTNERSHIP MAINLINES Celebrations Marking the Commissioning of International Transport, Energy and Communications Lines 1 We also aimed to create in that part of the Earth a monwealth of Independent States and the Eurasian Economic ing that friendship with Turkmenistan was highly valued by reliable, rapidly growing energy, transport and commu- Community. the government and the people of Afghanistan. nication system as a very important and integral part of mod- Turkmenistan was ready to develop on a systemic basis “Seven years ago, when I was running for presidency, I was ern world economic relations, intended to promote effec- mutually beneficial, equal cooperation with those organisa- asked where I would start my foreign policy. I said that from tive interregional and continental ties, President Gurbanguly tions, the Turkmen leader said. In this regard, our country Turkmenistan. This statement surprised many domestic and Berdimuhamedov said. puts forward initiatives calling for the start of joint work in foreign politicians. I am sure that today, seeing the extensive The head of Turkmenistan expressed confidence that the several significant areas based on common long-term inter- relations between the two brotherly neighbouring countries, commissioning of those facilities would give a powerful im- ests. they realise the correctness of my answer,” the head of the petus to the economic development of Afghanistan, the res- Neutrality and the open-doors economic policy formed friendly country Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said. toration of the industry and social sphere of the neighbour- the basis of Turkmenistan’s international activities, President Afghanistan and Turkmenistan are bound with long-stand- ing country, strengthen the confidence of the Afghan people Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov continued. Being the largest ing ties that have been successful throughout history. in their strength and become one of the effective factors in energy power and one of the most important transport and Today, bilateral relations, based on the deep understand- achieving unity and solidity in the formation of a peaceful, transit centres of Eurasia, our country directed its capabilities ing of each other’s national interests and needs, continue and prosperous and economically developed state. to the service of peace, good neighbourliness and large-scale are directed towards the future. The leader of the nation assured the Afghan brothers, and mutually beneficial cooperation. International initiatives In addition to cultural and historical commonality, our friends and partners in the region and in the world that in of Turkmenistan on key topics of the global agenda are aimed countries are developing economic projects that will further order to achieve those goals, Turkmenistan, both on a bilat- at fulfilling these tasks. strengthen ties. This is a joint work in the field of railways eral basis and in the aspect of combining international ef- Our proposals in the transport and energy spheres are and communications, such large projects as the transmission forts, would continue to provide Afghanistan with all-round receiving more and more attention in the world. This is evi- of electricity to Pakistan, TAP, and gas transportation to In- economic, political and diplomatic support. denced by their great support from the United Nations. In the dia and Pakistan, TAPI, and a fibre-optic network connecting The implementation of such important projects was a aspect of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, the South Asia with Europe by land. result of many years of close and effective Turkmen-Afghan draft Resolutions developed and put forward by Turkmeni- All that would improve the living conditions of the- Af cooperation, the head of state Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov stan on reliable transit of energy resources to world markets, ghan people and the situation of the countries of the region, said, stressing that we were proud of the fruitful, equal and strengthening ties among all modes of transport, were unani- President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani emphasised, noting that truly fraternal relations with the Islamic Republic of Afghani- mously adopted by the UN General Assembly. such programmes would create corridors of development and stan and we highly appreciated them. Today we are witnessing the implementation of these ini- social wellbeing that would allow Afghanistan to grow rapidly. These relations have centuries-old historical roots, and tiatives and proposals in practice. And the current projects He noted the importance of Afghanistan’s position as a today they acquire a new meaning and content, which finds would become a concrete contribution to the transformation crossroads connecting Central Asia with South, East and West its visible embodiment in the implementation of joint large- of our region into a solid component of strategic sustainable Asia. In that aspect, the functioning and continuation of sig- scale development plans, the creation of modern life support development on the continent, the head of state Gurbanguly nificant economic and infrastructure projects proved that systems for states and the formation of new transport, com- Berdimuhamedov stressed, noting that they also opened up our vision of interconnectedness and integration was not a munication and energy directions. prospects for the region in terms of economic partnership regional dream, but an indisputable reality, the head of the In this context, the national leader highlighted such sig- with many countries, large international organisations, finan- IRA said. nificant projects as the construction of the Turkmenistan–Af- cial centres and institutes. The successful expansion of Afghanistan’s cooperation ghanistan–Pakistan–India gas pipeline, power transmission With the commissioning of the new power transmission with the Central Asian states is a good example for other and fibre-optic communication lines along the Turkmenistan– line, fibre-optic communication system and railway, new op- neighbours and all countries in the region. For those who Afghanistan–Pakistan route and the Lapis Lazuli transport cor- portunities for large-scale cooperation between Turkmeni- believed that it was impossible to build a railway network in ridor. stan and Afghanistan and new conditions for socioeconomic Afghanistan, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani suggested These projects, based on a correct understanding of development, improving the living standards of people and thinking again. common strategic goals and a clear vision of the possibili- successfully integrating into the global economic space, ap- They strove to turn Afghanistan into a regional crossroads, ties for long-term cooperation, will further bind our coun- pear. and, undoubtedly, Turkmenistan, which had achieved great tries and peoples with truly friendly and good-neighbourly The head of Turkmenistan expressed confidence we were success in that area, as their good neighbour and strategic relations. An important prerequisite there is the wisdom, at the beginning of a long road of new initiatives. And further, partner, could make a significant contribution in that direc- foresight and political will of the Afghan leadership. That numerous projects would be implemented, not at all lower in tion, the Afghan leader said. was a key to common success and effective cooperation importance, large-scale, having colossal opportunities for the Under the leadership of President Gurbanguly in the future, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov two fraternal countries and peoples and also for other states, Berdimuhamedov, Turkmenistan had not only turned into a said. the leader of the nation emphasised. regional centre, but also played a key role in creating a point The Turkmen leader expressed his sincere gratitude to That day will enter the chronicle of relations between of connection between the region and the world, the head of IRA President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani for supporting those Turkmenistan and Afghanistan as a glorious page and will con- the neighbouring country said. projects and making a huge personal contribution to their firm the commonality of our views and goals and our effective On behalf of the government and people of the country, implementation. cooperation. the President of Afghanistan expressed his deep gratitude to Addressing all the participants in the celebration, the head We had every right to be proud of the results of our part- the Turkmen leader for the establishment of strong relations of state noted the development of energy and cross-border nership, the head of state said, once again cordially congrat- and cooperation within the framework of large programmes transport and communication systems was an effective condi- ulating the participants in the celebration on that glorious and projects, their financing and implementation. tion for the dynamic economic growth of our states. This is an event and wishing everyone every success. The government and people of the IRA were proud of important basis for improving the wellbeing of people, creat- President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov also addressed such neighbourhood and friendship, President Mohammad ing additional jobs and attracting large external investments. President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani good wishes for peace Ashraf Ghani assured, wishing all that to be inherited by our All the work carried out would also contribute to strengthen- and prosperity to the Afghan people. future generations. ing security in the region, creating the necessary favourable As a sign of Turkmen-Afghan friendship, the national lead- We witnessed the opening of the Aqina–Andkhoy railway political climate for fruitful interstate cooperation and raising er blessed the commissioning of the railway section between that day, and the IRA President expressed confidence similar the effectiveness of joint efforts to combat emerging threats, the Aqina and Andkhoy stations, the Kerki– Sheberghan projects would be implemented in the near future, turning the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov power transmission line and the Imamnazar–Aqina and Ser- Afghanistan into a regional crossroads. emphasised. hetabat–Torghundi international fibre-optic communication The level of relations between Afghanistan and Turkmeni- The implementation of such projects was fully consistent systems. stan has grown from good-neighbourly ties to strategic co- with the long-term strategy of the United Nations, which also Then the floor was given to President Mohammad Ashraf operation, and there is sufficient motivation for its develop- covered ensuring stability and sustainable development of Ghani. ment. According to the Afghan leader, raising the status of the the regions of Central and South Asia and neighbouring coun- Greeting the participants of the ceremony, the headof Turkmen consulates to the general ones in the cities of Herat tries, the Turkmen leader said. the IRA noted that relations between Afghanistan and Turk- and Mazar-i-Sharif will further strengthen the partnership. Besides, the above projects are of great importance for menistan had significantly expanded and expressed grati- Turkmenistan strove to make its contribution to the Af- economic, industrial and trade cooperation at the continental tude on behalf of the Afghan people for the goodwill of the ghan peace process, and since 2013, it had consistently called level. It was a question of the combination of resource and President of Turkmenistan. for a round of talks on that issue in Ashgabat, the President of production capacities to bring goods and services to the Asia- The commissioning of the Aqina–Andkhoy railway and Afghanistan said. Pacific region and to the wide, rapidly developing markets of other infrastructure projects between the two countries were Once again noting the extreme importance of coop- Europe and the Middle East with the use of logistics potential, significant steps towards further expanding interaction and eration between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, the- Af the head of state noted. formed an important part of our prospects for regional ties ghan leader stressed that interaction was successfully The implementation of such projects creates favourable and integration, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said. developing in a trilateral format (Afghanistan–Turkmeni- conditions for Afghanistan’s cooperation with such large It was a great honour for Afghanistan to resume its long- stan–USA), (Afghanistan–Turkmenistan–Iran) and (Afghani- structures and associations as the Shanghai Cooperation -Or standing relations with the countries of Central Asia in more stan–Turkmenistan–Azerbaijan) and within the frame- ganisation, the Economic Cooperation Organisation, the Com- than a hundred years, the President of the IRA stressed, not- work of regional and international organisations. 3 3 Saturday 16 January 2021

2 The facilities being commissioned that day were also country and will open up new opportunities for revitalising The 112-kilometre Rabat-kashan–Kalai-nau power line of great importance for regional integration and the de- small and medium-sized businesses and promoting Afghan with a capacity of 100 MWh built in July 2018 vividly exempli- velopment of economic relations between our countries, products on the world markets. fies effective assistance provided by Turkmenistan to Afghani- President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani noted, stressing they In the future, the Kerki–Imamnazar–Aqina–Andkhoy stan in recent years. were ready to start TAPI and TAP projects in Afghanistan in transport corridor may become a profitable export route for Turkmen specialists built a number of power supply facili- August 2021, and, taking that opportunity, thanked the Gov- the commodities from Central and South Asia to the markets ties, including substations. Together with the Imamnazar–An- ernment of Turkmenistan for reducing the electricity price for of the Asia-Pacific fast-developing countries. Thus, the steel dkhoy and Serhetabat–Herat lines, the Rabat-kashan–Kalai- the TAP 500 kV project from 6 cents to 3.5 cents. route will be an important link in transit transport routes on a nau power line is a key element of energy infrastructure that They were finalising a roadmap for cooperation between regional and international scale, contributing to the entry of helps the neighbouring country along the path of economic the two countries and were pleased with the level of the de- Afghanistan into the system of world economic coordinates. recovery. velopment of our economic relations, especially in the field of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan have launched another Certainly, the project of the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan– electricity and railways, the Afghan leader said. transport project, the Torghundi–Herat railway with a length Pakistan (TAP) power transmission line being built in paral- It was also proposed to use such a dialogue format as twin of 173 kilometres. The project provides for the construction lel with the TAPI gas pipeline is of huge importance. In 2019, cities, which Herat and Mary could become, using expanded of four railway stations, communication and track warning the ceremony marking the launch of the project of a 220kV bilateral cultural ties. systems and an apron on the route. high-voltage power line in Turkmenistan’s section of the TAP In conclusion, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani When new logistics routes are connected to the Aqina– power line along the route Mary SPS–Herat (IRA) took place once again expressed gratitude to President Gurbanguly Andkhoy and Torghundi–Herat railways, their role as impor- in the Mary velayat. Berdimuhamedov for his constant attention to and support tant links in the international transport corridor, stretching Turkmenistan is making a significant contribution to the for the implementation of joint projects. from the Caspian Sea to the Indian Ocean, will grow. peaceful recovery of Afghanistan and taking an active part in Then the high-ranking officials of the railway, electric Construction work to be done by Turkmen railway work- promoting its socioeconomic development. To support the power and communication industries of Turkmenistan and ers will become another contribution of our country to the Afghan people in their pursuit of wellbeing, our country sup- Afghanistan addressed the audience. socioeconomic development of the Islamic Republic of Af- plies not only electricity, but also liquefied gas to Afghanistan The Chairman of the Türkmendemirýollary Agency and ghanistan. at a discounted price, builds social facilities and assists the the Director General of Afghanistan Railway Authority report- President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov emphasises the neighbouring state in educating young people and training ed on the readiness to launch the Aqina–Andkhoy railway. development of international transport corridors meets both specialists. They noted the steel route would facilitate trade between external and internal economic interests of Turkmenistan. In The Chairman of the Türkmenaragatnaşyk Agency and the Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. The Afghanistan Railway Au- this context, the goal of the Turkmen leader’s transport diplo- Minister of Communications and Information Technology of thority conducted a survey that showed that the volume of macy is to use fully the advantageous geographic location of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan reported through telecon- freight transport was expected to increase by 20 % in the our country and the huge transport and transit potential of ference on the readiness to put into operation the fibre-optic first year and by 50% in the second year of operation of the the entire region. lines to provide the international transit corridors Imamna- railway, delivery time would shorten, and new jobs would be In this regard, the new proposals of the leader of the na- zar–Aqina and Serhetabat–Torghundi (Afghanistan). created. tion, put forward during a video conference with - thepar This is not the first fibre-optic line from Turkmenistan to The Afghan party expressed sincere gratitude to the ticipation of the leaders of Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and -Af Afghanistan. In accordance with the bilateral agreement, the President of Turkmenistan for assistance in the implementa- ghanistan, held on July 2, 2020, to harness the opportunities Aqina–Torghundi line was put into operation earlier. tion of the project and thanked the high-ranking officials of of the Lapis Lazuli Transport Corridor Project should be noted. The fibre-optic line connects Afghanistan with five neigh- the sectoral agency of Turkmenistan for the construction of In particular, the leader of the Turkmen state proposed bouring countries, including Turkmenistan. The new line is the steel route and facilities. the creation of a logistics centre that would coordinate freight another step to develop Afghanistan’s digital infrastructure. The commissioned railway is part of an ambitious flows and improve the operational efficiency of the corridor, Today, the key priorities of the IRA Government Afghan in- transport project initiated by President Gurbanguly establish a single pricing policy and simplify customs proce- clude e-government implementation and digital reforms. In Berdimuhamedov and designed to connect the countries of dures by using the single window and design a digital atlas of this context, this project will contribute to achieving these the region and to provide access to the railway network of the Afghanistan–Turkmenistan–Azerbaijan route. goals. China. Thus, the new initiatives of President Gurbanguly In accordance with the Memorandum and the contract The construction of the first stage of the Asian Interna- Berdimuhamedov for creating a common transport and trade between the Türkmenaragatnaşyk Agency and the Ministry tional Railway Transport Corridor, the Kerki–Imamnazar–Aqi- space in the region and on the continent for the benefit and of Communications and Information Technology of Afghani- na section, started in June 2013 and was completed in Octo- prosperity of all confirm the importance of developing rail- stan and the Afghan Wireless Communication Company, ber 2016. The total length of the section of the transnational way transport. communication equipment was installed. The projects were highway is 88 kilometres, 85 of which run through the terri- With the blessing of the President of Turkmenistan, the implemented using Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing tory of our country, and three more lie between the border first train of the Türkmendemirýollary Agency departed from (DWDM) as an optical multiplexing technology used toin- points of Imamnazar and Aqina. the Aqina station to Andkhoy. The caravan consisted of 20 crease bandwidth over existing fibre networks. On February 21, 2019, in the city of Ashgabat, a Memo- freight wagons and tanks with export products of Turkmeni- The launch of the new transnational fibre-optic lines randum of Understanding was signed between the Türkmen- stan. 10 wagons delivered diesel fuel, 7 wagons carried min- will make it possible to increase network traffic through our demirýollary Agency and the Afghan Railway Department on eral fertilisers and 3 wagons transported agricultural prod- country and enhance network performance to support net- the construction of the Aqina–Andkhoy railway. ucts. work traffic flows to Afghanistan and further to Pakistan. It The project developed in accordance with the instructions The leaders of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan watched the will also allow speeding up data transmission and ensuring of the leader of Turkmenistan, aims to expand transport infra- first freight wagons moving along the new route serving as reliable communication between Turkmenistan and the IRA. structure between our states and provide integrated logistics a symbol of the centuries-old traditions of good neighbourli- Moreover, the new lines will help improve and speed up the services to our partners from the brotherly country. ness underlying modern relations between our countries. information flows between the countries of Europe, Asia and In July 2019, a 10-kilometre branch line was opened at the The Minister of Energy of Turkmenistan and the Director Southeast Asia to 100 Gbps, and up to 6 Tbps in the future. Aqina station in the Faryab province, and the construction of General of the IRA General Water and Energy Affairs Manage- The transnational fibre optic lines will serve as a key in- the Aqina–Andkhoy railway was launched. It should be noted ment Directorate reported to the leaders of the two countries formation bridge between Europe and Asia, and in the future that Turkmenistan fully funded the construction project in the via teleconference on the readiness to put into operation a they will take over the bulk of this traffic. territory of Afghanistan and used its own human and material power line from the Turkmen town of Kerki to the Afghan city Today, our country is open to a wide-scale international resources – workers, engineers, track machines and cranes, of Sheberghan. dialogue based on the principles of friendship, good neigh- building materials, railway sleepers and others. It was emphasised that the project was an important step bourliness and respect for each other’s interests. This ap- Modern machinery and equipment of Turkmen road to develop the Afghan energy market. Jointly with Turkmeni- proach has enabled Turkmenistan to make technological builders and competent and efficient management made it stan, Afghanistan is developing an infrastructure necessary to breakthroughs. possible to complete the important project successfully. They increase electricity supply. In conclusion, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov also built and equipped side and transfer tracks, container The key policy priorities of the Government of Afghani- and President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani bade warm farewell terminals and other auxiliary facilities along the 30-kilome- stan include energy security. In this regard, the project will to each other, exchanged wishes for peace, prosperity and tre route. The Türkmendemirýoltaslama Design and Research contribute to ensuring reliable energy supply in the northern wellbeing to the neighbouring peoples and expressed belief Institute of the Türkmendemirýollary Agency performed the provinces of Afghanistan and improving access to sustainable in fruitful cooperation that would develop successfully in new design work. energy across the country. horizons. Turkmen specialists designed and installed disinfection With putting the 500 kV power line into operation, the The programme of the festive event included the ceremo- barriers which were to ensure the compliance of internation- number of people consuming Turkmen electricity will in- ny of awarding valuable gifts on behalf of the President of al freight transport operations with sanitation and safety re- crease to 9 million throughout the country, which is an im- Turkmenistan to specialists for their excellent performance in quirements, extremely important during the global pandemic portant step to ensure reliable power supply of Afghanistan. the project of the Aqina–Andkhoy railway that took place at today. In this context, railway transport is the safest and most President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov blessed the the Aqina station. In Turkmenabat, valuable gifts on behalf of efficient mode of transportation. putting into operation of the power transmission line after the President of Turkmenistan were presented to communi- It can be certainly stated that the new steel route will watching a video film about it. cations specialists for their excellent performance in the proj- bring a new life to those regions of Afghanistan. It will give In accordance with the Resolution of the President of ect of the fibre-optic cable from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan. an impetus to economic growth and development in Afghani- Turkmenistan, a gas turbine plant, a 500 kW Kerki substation Undoubtedly, today, the transport, communication and stan and will enable the country to address important social and an overhead power line to the Turkmen-Afghan border energy infrastructure is one of the key factors for sustainable issues, including employment opportunities for local people, were built in the Lebap velayat to support the implementa- development in the national, regional and global dimensions. to attract investment and to have a positive impact on the tion of the project. President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, who is the lead- situation in Afghanistan in general. These newly built facilities made it possible to improve er of the state with the solid transit potential, located at a Successful and promising partnerships between the IRA energy supply in Lebap and enhanced the technical capacities strategically crossroads of transnational transport routes, and Turkmen railway builders in developing a network of steel for electricity exports. initiates a number of major projects in these spheres. These routes will not only serve the benefit of the neighbouring The Afghan party built the necessary facilities to receive projects are aimed at enhancing and expanding constructive states and nations, but will also enhance mutually beneficial Turkmen electricity in its territory. At the first stage, electricity cooperation for global peace, prosperity and progress. regional and international economic cooperation. will be supplied to Andkhoy, Sheberghan and Mazar-i-Sharif. The Aqina-Andkhoy railway line will establish additional At the second stage, by 2022 electricity will have been sup- State News Agency preconditions for the economic growth of the neighbouring plied to Puli Khumri and Kabul. of Turkmenistan (TDH) 4 Saturday 16 January 2021 Re­mar­kab­le Achievements of the MOT­HER­LAND

In Turkme­ ­nis­tan, ma­ny im­por­tant social, cul­tu­ral and in­dust­rial facili­ties we­re put in­to ope­ra­tion in 2020 the mot­to of which was “Turk­me­nis­tan – the Ho­me of Neut­ra­li­ty”. The Ho­me­land Ot­her New­ly Built Facili­ties The Pre­si­dent of Turk­me­nis­tan Gurbanguly dwel ­lers. The cot­ta­ges are built from high-qua­li­ty do­ of Neut­ra­li­ty Ber­di­mu­ha­me­dov at­ten­ded the ope­ning cere­mo­ny of mes­tical­ly pro­duced buil­ding ma­te­rials. the cot­ta­ge comp­lex in the Cho­ganly­ re­si­den­tial com­ In Novem­ber, the ope­ning cere­mo­nies of re­si­den­tial On Decem­ber 12, 2020, the count­ mu ­nit­y in the north of Ashga­ ­bat, built for emp­loyees of buildings,­ cot­ta­ges, a scho­ol and a shop­ping centr­e in ry celeb­ra­ted the 25th an­niver­sa­ry the Mi­nist­ry of In­ter­nal Af­fairs. The ad­mi­nist­ra­tive buil­ding the Byuzme­ yin etr­ap of Ash­ga­bat to­ok place in a so­lemn ofa the neutr­ ­li­ty of the Turk­men sta­te. has a bas-re­lief de­picting a vete­ran of the int­er­nal af­fairs at­mosp­he­re. The Yl­ham Bi­na econo­mic society imp­le­ The Unit­ed Na­tions has twice recog­ bo ­dies Mya­lik­guly­ Ber­di­mu­ha­me­dov, whom the cot­ta­ge men ­ted the const­ruction­ pro­jects of the 3-sto­rey scho­ol ni sed­ its int­ er­na­tio­nal le­gal sta­tus by comp­lex is na­med af­ter. building­ desig­ ­ned for 600 child­ren and the shopping­ adop­ting the special UN Gene­ r­al The su­bor­di­na­te const­ructi­on com­pa­ny built the cent ­re built in the best tra­di­tions of natio­ nal­ archit­ectu­re. As­semb­ly Re­so­lu­tions on Decem­ber cot­ta­ges by or­der of the Mi­nist­ry of In­ter­nal Af­fairs. Ad ­he­ring to the social po­licy of the Turk­men lea­der 12, 1995 and June­ 3, 2015. To­day, the Eacha cot­t ­ge has 5 spacious rooms. Li­ke all mo­dern Gurbanguly Ber­di­mu­ha­me­dov, the buil­ders of the Byuz­ neuta r­ ­li­ty of our count­ry is vie­wed as buil din­ gs in our count­ry, they of­fer maximum com­fort meyin reinf­orced concre­te plant of the Minis­ tr­y of In­dust­ry an es­sen­tial to­ol for ensu­ ­ring sta­bi­li­ty to their dweller­ s. The­se spacious hou­ses have all the and Const­ruction­ Pro­ducti­on built 12 mo­dern 4-sto­rey re­si­ and securi­ty in the re­gion, imple­ ­men­ ting peace-loving initia­ tiv­ es, discus­ con­di­tions for or­ga­ni­sing fes­tive fa­mi­ly events in the den­tial buildings.­ Playg­rounds, sum­mer pavil­lions and car sing and re­solving to­pical issues­ at the spi ­rit of the tra­di­tions of the Turkmen­ peop­le, receiving parks are com­pactly located in the ad­jacent ter­rit­or­y. The in t­ er­na­tio­nal level. guests and ar­rangin­ g wed­dings, sa­daqahs and ot­her const­ruction­ sub­divisions of the Ashga­ ­bat Hya­kim­lik SED-2 Thea neutr­ ­li­ty of Turk­me­nis­tan celeb­ra­tions. Such const­ructi­on pro­jects al­ways focus and SED-3 built 3 resi­ ­den­tial buildings­ and 9 cott­a­ges in har­mo­niously­ com­bi­nes the funda­­ on the tradi­ ­tio­nal way of li­fe and the mo­dern needs of the et­rap. men­tal princip­les of int­ er­na­tio­nal law and dip­lo­macy with the constr­uctive practices of peacekee­ping dia­lo­gue and preven­tive mea­su­res to achieve re­gio­nal securi­ty and sta­bi­li­ty and ad­ Strong Po­si­tions Oil and Gas vocates univer­sal values. Its es­sence is the achievement of global­ prog­ress The private com­pa­nies of the Union of In­dust­ria­lists and Entr­ep­re­neurs through peaceful and constr­uctive of Turk­me­nis­tan (UIET) imp­le­men­ted the 16th-sta­ge const­ructi­on pro­jects Pro­jects dia­lo­gue. in the capit­al city. In the mo­dern era, ent­rep­re­neurs of Turkme­ ­nis­tan are Fose ­t ­ring a const­ructive dia­lo­gue The fo­reign-po­licy stra­te­gy of Turk­ occupying stronger­ po­si­tions in various in­dust­rial sectors of the na­tio­nal with count­ries int­ e­res­ted in develo­ping me ­nis­tan, ba­sed on its univer­sal­ly econo­my, con­sis­tent­ly increa­sing their cont­ri­bu­tion to stea­dy sta­te growth. ef ­fective coo­pe­ra­tion with Turk­me­ recog­nised­ in­ter­na­tio­nal le­gal sta­tus To ­day, Turk­men entr­ep­re­neurs ope­rat­e in near­ly all sectors of the nis ­tan is the main­ go­al of the fo­reign of per­ma­nent neutr­ a­li­ty, is being fil­led na­tio­nal econo­my. The in­ten­si­fied activities of this im­por­tant sector of po ­licy stra­te­gy of Turk­me­nis­tan ba­sed with new mea­ning and cont­ent at the the na­tio­nal econo­my al­low crea­ting new jobs, broa­de­ning the ran­ge on the princip­les of po­si­tive neutr­ a­li­ty, preo ­sent his­t ­rical sta­ge in the Era of of pro­ducts and rai­sing the pro­ducti­on of com­pe­ti­tive goods. Pre­si­dent open­ness and go­od neighbour­ ­li­ness. Might and Happi­ ­ness. In this re­gard, Gurbanguly Ber­di­mu­ha­me­dov emp­ha­si­ses the encou­ra­ge­ment of ent­ The high pro­fi­ta­bi­li­ty of the oil and the peaceful po­licy of the Turk­men repe ­r ­neu­rial activity as the crucial factor in pro­mo­ting mar­ket re­la­tions gas sector of Turk­me­nis­tan’s na­tio­nal sta­te, ai­med at go­od neighbour­ ­li­ness, is a prio­ri­ty as­pect of the socioecono­mic develop­ment stra­te­gy of econo ­my, as­socia­ted, among ot­her equal and mu­tually­ be­ne­ficial coo­pe­ Turk ­me­nis­tan. Con­sis­tent ef­forts to encou­ra­ge and crea­te an enab­ling things, with hinging­ on int­ er­na­tio­nal ra­tion with ot­her sta­tes and int­ er­na­tio­ environ­ment for ent­rep­re­neu­rial activity in Turk­me­nis­tan cont­ri­bu­te to mar ­ket con­di­tions, oil and gas prices nal or­ga­nisa­ ­tions, is reaching a higher­ the all-round development­ of the count­ry and its int­eg­ra­tion int­o the and favou­rab­le macroecono­mic si­ level. world econo­mic space. tua tion­ ma­ke Turk­me­nis­tan att­ractive to fo­reign inves­tors. In the mo­dern his­to­ry of our countr­y, the leader­ of the nation­ Gurbanguly Ber­di­mu­ha­me­dov has ini­tia­ted a num­ Social Po­licy Prio­ri­ties ber of ma­jor invest­ment pro­jects that are es­sen­tial for en­hancing the econo­ In 2020, the prio­ri­ty areas of the ur­ban plan­ning po­ For examp­le, in Novem­ber Pre­si­dent Gurbanguly mic po­ten­tial of Turk­me­nis­tan’s oil and licy of the Turkmen­ lea­der re­mai­ned unchan­ged – the Ber­di­mu­ha­me­dov at­ten­ded the ope­ning cere­mo­nies of gast indus­ ­ry. One of such pro­jects was imp r­ovement of living con­di­tions and welf­a­re of the a num­ber of archi­tectu­ral facili­ties in Ash­ga­bat, built wit­ imp­le­men­ted last year. peop­le. Imp­le­men­ting the Socioecono­mic Develop­ hin the frame­ ­work of the 16th sta­ge of the const­ruction­ Pre­si­dent Gurbanguly ment Prog­ram­me for 2019–2025, sta­te-run and private pro­ject. Mo­re than a thousan­ d of fa­mi­lies received ke­ys Ber­di­mu­ha­me­dov at­ten­ded the sto­ne- const­ructi­on com­pa­nies have be­en in­ten­si­fying hou­ to com­for­tab­le flats in the housin­ g es­ta­te that sprang laying ceremo­ ­ny of the po­wer units at sing re­si­den­tial const­ructi­on work with every pas­sing up along Mag­tym­gu­ly Avenue, bet­ween Tas­la­ma Street the Turk­men­bas­hi oil re­fi­ne­ries du­ring year, using eco-friend­ly techno­lo­gies. Pre­si­dent and Te­ge­ran Street. The new hou­sing es­ta­te comp­ri­ses his wor­king visit to the Bal­kan velayat Gurbanguly Ber­di­mu­ha­me­dov emp­ha­si­ses the ma­in 12 -sto­rey hou­ses with 3-, 4- and 5-ro­om flats, a lar­ge shop­ in Sep­tem­ber 2020. Add­res­sing tho­se requie r­ ­ment for const­ruction­ work is high qua­li­ty and ping and en­ter­tain­ment cent­re, 5-km high­way, un­derg­ pre­sent, the Turkmen­ lea­der no­ted ad­ comp­liance with const­ructi­on sche­du­le. The hap­py round pe­dest­rian cros­sings, bus stops, sports grounds, vanced techno­lo­gies we­re int­ro­duced li f­e of the peop­le in the Era of Might and Happi­ ­ness is child ­ren’s playg­rounds and places for recrea­tion. in­to pro­ducti­on and in­dust­rial facili­ties fun­da­men­tal for imp­le­men­ting the social po­licy of the The mo­nument­ to Turk­men Ala­bay stands not far we ­re fit­ted with stat­e-of-the-art equip­ leader­ of the nation.­ The decision of Pre­si­dent away on the rounda­ ­bout along Mag­tym­guly­ Avenue, ment in or­der to broa­den the ran­ge Gurbanguly Ber­di­mu­ha­me­dov on the const­ructi­on bet ­ween Tas­la­ma Street and Te­ge­ran Street. The sculp­ and to rai­se the pro­ducti­on of goods of high-ri­se buildin­ gs with mo­dern conveniences and tu r­e looks very ma­jes­tic: it is 6 metr­es high and stands ab ­le to com­pe­te in world mar­kets. imp r­oved layout that me­et mo­dern requi­re­ments along on the pedes­ ­tal 9 metr­es high. The 15-metr­e mo­nument,­ Eco-friend­ly in­dust­rial en­terp­ri­ses are es­ with the moder­ ­nisa­ ­tion of the exis­ting housing­ stock occupying an area with a diame­ ­ter of 36 metr­es, is se­en tab ­lis­hed to me­et the ob­jectives of the aims to achieve these­ goals. clear ­ly from afar. na­tio­nal develop­ment stra­te­gy. 5 Saturday 16 January 2021

Roads as a Mir­ror of the Econo­my On the eve of Neutr­ali­ ­ty Day, a two-level trans­port int­erchan­ge was built at the int­er­secti­on of S. Turk­menbas­ ­hi Avenue and A. Niya­zov Avenue in the centr­e of Ashga­ bat.­ The winner­ of the ten­der, Nu say­ Yol­la­ry, did its best to reduce­ traf­fic con­ges­tion in the capit­al city. The scale of the const­ruction­ pro ­ject is imp­res­sive: an under­ g­round tunnel,­ fo­ur pe­dest­rian cros­sings and an octa­go­nal ste­le with 8x8 disp­lays placed on it. Two- and three-level int­erchanges­ and brid­ges, built in the capit­al in recent years, vivid­ly exemp­li­fy the ef­fective handling­ of heavy passen­ ­ger flows. Ashga­ ­bat archi­tects we­re en­ga­ged in de­sig­ning the tunnel­ pro­ject, using the lat­est techno­lo­gies in this spher­e and studying­ the mo ­dern tunnel­ de­signs. The develop­ment of ur­ban ro­ad infr­ast­ructur­e plays an im­por­tant ro­le in ur­ban planning­ mana­­ ge­ment. To­day, highw­ ay reconst­ruction­ re­mains the prio­ri­ty as­pect in the city develop­ment stra­te­gy in the capit­al city of neutr­al Turk­me­nis­tan. This stra­te­gy al­lows crea­ting the necessa­ ­ry con­di­tions to imp r­ove the qua­li­ty of lif­e in our city, sup­port the scale and dyna­ ­mics of ur­ban growth and ensu­ ­re thee saf­ ­ty of our peop­le. A ro­ad infr­ast­ructur­e is the circula­to­ry sys­tem of the city, wit­hout which the dy­na­mic growth of the met­ro­polis­ is im­pos­sib­le.

* * * Thee ti­r ­less hard work of the na­tio­nal leader­ for the be­ne­fit of the home­ ­land ensu­ ­res a won­der­ful and happ­ y lif­e for all ge­ne­ra­tions of the Turk­men peop­le. This became pos­sib­le lar­ge­ly through the impa le­ ­men­t ­tion of the ef­fective, well thought-out and science-based­ sta­te socioecono­mic develop­ ment po­licy of the leader­ of Turk­me­nis­tan. The tre­men­dous work being do­ne by Pre­si­dent Gurbanguly Ber­di­mu­ha­me­dov not on­ly en­su­red the stab­le, po­si­tive dy­na­mics of develop­ ment, financial­ and social stabi­ ­li­ty, prompt res­pon­se and adap­ta­tion to chan­ges in the econo­mic environ­ment, but also­ laid­ the so­lid founda­ ­tion for our count­ry to achieve the main­ stra­te­gic goal­ – to imp­rove the peop­le’s wel­fa­re in line­ with the standar­ ds app­lied to highly­ -develo­ped count­ries of the world.

Dovlet­mu­rad ORAZ­KU­LIYEV, NT Pho­to: Ha­san MA­GA­DOV 6 Saturday 16 January 2021

ress and develop­ment of hu­ma­ni­ty, imp­roving stan­dard of living and well­ RE­LYING ON THE being of peop­le and crea­ting favou­ rab­le con­di­tions for glo­bal econo­mic and social growth, the maximum disclo­su­re of the crea­tive po­ten­tial of NEUT­RAL STA­TUS a per­son and en­su­ring of their rights and fun­da­men­tal free­doms, as one of the most im­por­tant com­po­nents of its find li­ke-min­ded part­ners, ai­ming at of re­gio­nal sta­bi­li­ty and securi­ty, and fo­reign po­licy. ef­fective joint work for the sa­ke of the adop­tion of the Re­so­lu­tion on Thus, the invariab­le princip­le of com­mon well­being. This is a key to proclai­ming 2021 as the In­ter­na­tio­ At present,­ ta­king in­to account the Turkmen­ sta­te is to pro­mo­te re­ the success of the current­ and fu­tu­re nal Year of Peace and Trust confirms­ new mo­dern chal­len­ges, the pur­po­se­ so­lu­tion of cont­rover­sial is­sues and in­ter­na­tio­nal activities of in­de­pen­ recog­ni­tion of our count­ry’s expe­ ful and far-sigh­ted po­licy of Pre­si­dent cont­ra­dictions in in­ter­na­tio­nal af­fairs dent neut­ral Turk­me­nis­tan. rience as use­ful for wi­der dis­se­mi­na­ Gurbanguly Ber­di­mu­ha­me­dov ba­sed through diplo­ ­ma­tic means and to es­ At present,­ our count­ry places a tion. tab­lish a just and constructive­ world on the princip­les of neutra­ ­lity­ and special emp­ha­sis on the econo­mic It should al­so be no­ted that Turk­ or ­der. In the era of glo­ba­li­sa­tion and ai­med at ensu­ ­ring of peace, trust as­pect of neut­ra­li­ty in its fo­reign me­nis­tan has become a ge­ne­ral­ly “cri­sis of con­fi­dence”, it is this point and har­mony­ at the global­ and re­gio­ po­licy, ini­tia­ting and imp­le­men­ting recog­ni­sed ne­go­tia­ting plat­form on of view that ap­pears to be the most nal levels, is becoming increa­sing­ly lar­ge-scale pro­jects with the par­ the most sig­ni­ficant is­sues of our ti­me sta­bi­li­sing and has a stab­le geo­po­li­ im­por­tant. The enor­mous de­mand ticipa­tion of various sta­tes. However­ , and in a varie­ty of for­mats. The First tical im­mu­ni­ty. for such po­licy is evidenced by the the ma­in cha­racte­ris­tic fea­tu­re of Cas­pian Econo­mic Fo­rum and the The geog­rap­hical and geo­po­li­tical una­ni­mous adop­tion of the Re­so­lu­ Turk­men neut­ra­li­ty is its peacekee­ mee­ting of the CIS Econo­mic Council po­si­tion of Turk­me­nis­tan and its tions “2021 – In­ter­na­tio­nal Year of ping mis­sion, Pre­si­dent Gurbanguly can be cited as examp­les. ro­le as a neut­ral peace-loving sta­te Peace and Trust” and “The Ro­le and Ber­di­mu­ha­me­dov empha­ ­si­ses. Since Anot­her very im­por­tant as­pect ma ­ke our count­ry an active, crea­tive Sig­ni­ficance of the Po­licy of Neut­ra­li­ gai­ning neut­ral sta­tus, Turk­me­nis­tan that has a signi­ ­ficant im­pact on the me­dia­tor bet­ween the East and the ty in Main­tai­ning and Strengt­he­ning has be­en con­sis­tent­ly imp­le­men­ting ef­fectiveness of fo­reign po­licy is the West. To­day, Turk­me­nis­tan con­ducts In­ter­na­tio­nal Peace, Securi­ty and all the provisions of the relevant­ UN wi­desp­read use of social me­dia and a mul­ti­la­te­ral dia­lo­gue on po­li­tical, the Process of Sus­tai­nable­ Develop­ Re­so­lu­tion, ta­king concre­te steps to di­gi­tal plat­forms, es­pecial­ly ta­king hu­ma­ni­ta­rian and econo­mic coo­pe­ra­ ment” at the UN Ge­ne­ral Assemb­­ re­gu­la­te the si­tua­tion in the re­gion, in­to account current­ glo­bal trends tion and develops part­ners­hip wit­ ly ses­sions on the ini­tia­tive of our becoming a reliab­ ­le con­ductor of the and world chal­len­ges. All this has led hin the fra­me­work of in­ter­na­tio­nal count­ry. ideas and principles­ of the Com­mu­ni­ to the for­ma­tion of mo­dern forms of structures.­ The es­tab­lish­ment of peace and ty of Nations­ in Cent­ral Asia. fo­reign-po­licy com­mu­nication, which This po­licy, successful­ ­ly imp­le­men­ trust is exactly what huma­ ­nity­ needs The es­tab­lish­ment of the UN Re­ trans­forms the sys­tem of in­ter­na­tio­ ted by the he­ad of sta­te Gurbanguly most of all at pre­sent, because to­day gio­nal Cent­re for Preven­tive Dip­lo­ nal re­la­tions, inf­luences the activi­ Ber­di­mu­ha­me­dov, is ba­sed on neut­ the­se two in­se­pa­rab­le concepts are macy for Cent­ral Asia in Ashga­ ­bat in ties of sta­te ins­ti­tu­tions and sha­pes ra­li­ty as a mo­del­ling princip­le of becoming the ma­in con­di­tion for 2007 was an im­por­tant mi­les­to­ne in percep­tions of and at­ti­tu­des to­wards buil­ding re­la­tions on the world are­ coo­pe­ra­tion and develop­ment. The fruit­ful­ly develo­ping coo­pe­ra­tion bet­ the count­ry as a who­le. na and a princip­le for­med on deep­ly po­licy of neut­ra­li­ty of Turk­me­nis­tan ween Turk­me­nis­tan and the UN. The It is neces­sa­ry to no­te the unique­ his­to­rical roots, na­tio­nal specifics is ba­sed on the­se simp­le and rat­her activities of the Cent­re cont­ri­bu­te ness and ef­fectiveness of the po­licy of of men­ta­li­ty and fun­da­men­tal con­ obvious pos­tu­la­tes. to the es­tab­lish­ment of sta­bi­li­ty and per­ma­nent neut­ra­li­ty of Turk­me­nis­ di­tions of the mo­dern geo­po­li­tical Pur­suing a policy­ of go­od-neigh­ con­so­li­da­tion of ef­fective con­tacts in tan, which calls for equal, respectful­ pa­ra­digm. bour­li­ness not on­ly in its region,­ but the re­gion. and mu­tual­ly be­ne­ficial in­ter­na­tio­nal Ha­jy­mu­rat PIR­MU­HA­ME­DOV, al­so with all in­te­res­ted sta­tes, our The part­ners­hip with the UN part­ners­hips. Turk­me­nis­tan con­si­ A se­nior lectu­rer at the Acade­my count­ry is not on­ly loo­king for points al­lows Turk­me­nis­tan to rea­li­se its ders active par­ticipa­tion in the UN of Civil Service un­der the Pre­si­dent of com­mon inte­ ­rest, but can al­so neut­ral status­ as an im­por­tant factor activities, ai­med at en­su­ring the prog­ of Turk­me­nis­tan

Aea repr­ ­sen­t ­tive team­ of Turkmen­ scho­olchild­ren success­ful­ly com­pe­ted at the an­nual, specia ­li­sed scho­ol 135 of Ash­ga­bat; Yazm­ y­rat this ti­me the VII, Ira­nian Geome­ tr­y Olympiad­ – IGO, which was or­ga­ni­sed at the end 2020 Huya ­da na­ ­z r­ov, 10th-grade­ stu­dent of secon­ in the In­terne­ t forma­ t. In to­tal, mo­re than five hund­red scho­olchild­ren from 49 count­ da ­ry scho­ol 40 of the Yo­lo­ten et­rap, Ma­ry ries of the world to­ok part in this In­terna­ ­tio­nal Olym­piad. Its results­ wer­e velayat. sum­med up a few da­ys ago. ­ren – The participa­ ­tionof the Turk­men team,­ This math compe­ ­ti­tion was held in con ­sis­ting of sixteen­ scho­olchild­ren, in three categ­ o­ries: pri­ma­ry, secon­da­ry ­olchild the com­pe­titions­ in the se­nior age cate­ and hig­her, which cor­respon­ ­ded to the Scho ­ners of the go ­ry became pro­ductive. Three of them age groups of the Olym­pians, inclu­ding we ­re awar­ded with bron­ze medals.­ scho ­olchild­ren from the seventh to the ­ze-Win They are 11th-gra­de stu­dents Akgur­ ­ twelfth gra­de. Accor­ding to the terms Pri tio­ ­nal ­piad ban Ju­mayev and Mu­hamme­ tm­ y­rat of the com­pe­ti­tion, par­ticipants in each ­na Gochmya r­ do­ v from Sa­parmu­ r­at Turk­ cateo g­ ­ry we­re as­ked to solve five tasks of In­ter tics­ Olym men ­bas­hi speciali­ ­sed secon­da­ry boar­ding scho­ol of a high degr­ee of comp­lexity, and they we­ ­ma Asha ­g ­bat; Di­dar Gayi­pov from secon­da­ry specia­li­sed school­ 26 re given fo­ur and a half hours to comp­le­te ­he of Das­ho­guz. the tasks. Mat Ars lan­ Ho­jiyev, a teacher of mat­he­ma­tics of Sa­par­mu­rat Turk­men­bas­hi specia­ On the in­terna­ ­tio­nal vir­tual plat­form of the li ­sed secon­da­ry boar­ding scho­ol of Ash­ga­bat, trai­ned child­ren for par­ticipa­tion in the In­ter­ Olym ­piad, our count­ry was repr­esen­ ­ted by 85 na ­tio­nal Olym­piad. The stu­dents of the expe­rienced men­tor have al­ready­ achieved ma­ny stu ­dents from dif­fe­rent educatio­nal ins­titu­ ­tions. do ­zens of sig­ni­ficant victo­ries at pres­ti­gious in­terna­ ­tio­nal Olym­piads. But, as the teacher Of them, 24 scho­olchild­ren par­ticipa­ted in the com­ emp­ha­si­ses, the in­tel­lectu­al achievements of Turk­men scho­olchild­ren increasing­ every year pe ­ti­tion at the pri­ma­ry age cate­go­ry, fo­ur of whom at in­terna­ ­tio­nal com­pe­ti­tions are, of cour­se, the re­sult of the enor­mous pa­ternal­ at­ten­tion we ­re awar­ded the third place and, accor­ding­ly, bron­ze medals.­ They wer­e Ra­him Aga­my­ that Presi­ ­dent Gurbanguly Ber­di­mu­ha­medo­ v pa­ys to the tasks of the har­mo­nious develop­ ra do­ v, 8th-grade­ stu­dent of Ash­ga­bat secon­da­ry specia­li­sed scho­ol 86; Vepa Ovez­dur­diyev, ment of the youn­ger ge­ne­ra­tion. As it is known, from the first da­ys of his lea­ders­hip of the 8th-gra de­ stu­dent of the scho­ol 131 of the capi­tal city; Se­lim Ha­ly­kov and Vepa Ovez­my­ra­ count r­y, the he­ad of sta­te has iden­ti­fied education as one of the ma­in prio­ri­ties of the na­ dov, senior­ studen­ ts of Ash­ga­bat secon­da­ry specia­li­sed scho­ol 97. tio e ­nal stra­t ­gy. And su­per mo­dern educatio­nal comp­lexes, equip­ped with the la­test teach- The team­ of par­ticipants of the secon­da­ry age cate­go­ry inclu­ded 23 Turkmen­ scho­ ing techno­lo­gies, which have be­en built in all regions­ of our count­ry, have become a vivid olchild ­ren. Among them was Oraz­my­rat Sa­het­myr­a­dov, 10th-gra­de stu­dent of Sa­parmu­ ­rat examp ­le of this. And this gran­dio­se const­ructi­on in the field of education have not slo­wed Turkmen­ ­bas­hi specia­li­sed secon­da­ry boar­ding scho­ol of Ash­ga­bat, who won a silver medal.­ down to this day. Thiso categ­ ­ry al­so brought several bron­ze medals.­ They we­re won by Emir Vele­kov and Gu­ lovser Gyly­ chmam­medo­ va, 10th-gra­de stu­dents of Sa­par­mu­rat Turk­men­bas­hi specia­li­sed Vik­to­riya NOVIKOVA, secon ­da­ry boar­ding scho­ol of Ash­ga­bat; Ba­ba­jan Cha­riyev, 9th-gra­de stu­dent of secon­da­ry NT 7 Saturday 16 January 2021

An Ornament – an Artistic Cand­les from Yu­zar­lik– Pro­ducts from Discovery of Humanity the Sagl­yk Phar­maceutical Plant

The cultural heritage of the Turkmen people In the near­ fu­tu­re, citi­zens of Turk­me­nis­tan cen ­tu­ries BC) – the sacred bo­ok of Zo­roast­ria­ that originates from the Jeytun period – the Neo- will have an op­portu­ ­ni­ty to buy a new pro­duct of nism, ad­ras­pan is descri­bed as a se­da­tive and lithic Period, the New Stone Age (X-V millennia the Sag­lyk phar­maceutical plant – cand­les ma­de pu ­ri­fying plant. It was then that Zo­roast­rians be­ BC), marked by the further progress of the earli- from pres­sed har­ma­la (yu­zar­lik). Not on­ly phar­ gan to app­ly the smo­ke of har­mala­ to cure sick est human communities in the territory of mod- macies, but al­so re­tail out­lets will sell har­ma­ peop ­le. They att­ri­but­ed the puri­ ­fying pro­perties­ ern Turkmenistan, is rich and diverse. During this la cand­les. The set inclu­des six briquet­tes and a to the plant and used it du­ring bu­rial ri­tuals in period, the way of life switched from hunting stand, i.e. cand­les­tick orf har­ma­la. their temple­ s. An ancient Ro­man phy­sician Di­ and gathering to the domestication of animals It is dif­ cult to overes­ti­ma­te the health be­ne­ oscori­des (1st cen­tu­ry AD) recom­men­ded ad­ding and the cultivation of plants, in other words, fits of har­ma­la to hu­mans. All Turk­men peop­le it to a me­dication for myo­pia, and a his­to­rian and to food production. The settlements of farmers know its hea­ling pro­perties.­ Over ma­ny cen­tu­ries, na­tu­ra­list Abu Ha­ni­fa al-Di­na­wa­ri (9th cen­tu­ry) and cattle breeders emerged in the territory of this plant has be­en used as an ef­ective re­me­dy for recommen­ ­ded trea­ting severe fever with its ro­ot Southern Turkmenistan in the VI millennium BC. ma n­ y ail­ments. The Doctor of Me­dicine, Pro­fessor­ , decocti ­on. In his Canon of Me­dicine, the le­gen­da­ Farmers made a significant contribution to Acade­mician of the Acade­my of Sciences of Turk­ ry scho­lar and phy­sician Abu Ali ibn Si­na (known in ancient culture; they raised the art of pottery me­nis­tan, Pre­si­dent Gurbanguly Ber­di­mu­ha­me­dov Eu ­ro­pe as Avicen­na) prescri­bed har­ma­la for joint and ornamentation to a high artistic level. In descri ­bes in de­tail the hea­ling Turkmenistan, the early Neolithic monuments have po ­wers of Turkme­ n na­tu­re in the many fragments of ceramic vessels decorated with mul ­tivolu­me encyclo­pae­dia Me­ simple patterns, such as straight, oblique and wavy dicinal Plants of Turk­me­nis­tan lines. However, ancient pottery decoration saw its and in the bo­ok Turk­me­nis­tan – heyday in the Eneolithic period – the Chalcolithic Age. the Land of Hea­ling. An ornament is not a system of symbols, but one The lea­der of the na­tion sa­ of the great artistic discoveries of humankind. In the ys the tra­di­tion of using har­mala­ arts as a special form of figurative thinking, an -or as a me­dicinal plant and amu­let nament serves to embellish. The ancient ornaments go ­es back to the ori­gins of the represent the main elements of the surrounding Turk me­ n na­tion. The Turk­men world – the sky and earth, celestial bodies and water, peop­le be­lieved that har­ma­la flora and fauna. Not external signs, but geometrised pro ­tected the hou­se and peop­ signs serve as an expression of great natural forces le from the evil eye and evil spi­ in the concepts of ancient people of the Eneolithic and Bronze Age. Zoomorphic rits. No­wa­days, one can see a motifs had a prominent place in the ornamentation of Eneolithic ceramics, in par- bund ­le of hea­ling herbs ti­ed with ticular in the Bronze Age. The profile silhouettes of goats with large horns, beard ala ­ja above the ent­rance to the and straight legs are most common. hou ­se. The bund­led branches of Numerous fragments of exquisite light ceramic items with brown and black the plant are put in places whe­ painting were discovered at the Akdepe monument dated to the Bronze Age (II re peop­le want a go­od at­mosp­he­re, pros­pe­ri­ty pa ­in and inf­lam­ma­tionof the sciatic nerve, uri­na­ millennium BC), located in the south-west of Ashgabat. Similar ceramic items were and health to reign. The ma­gical de­fen­der of the ry re­ten­tion and coli­tis, eye di­sea­ses, spleen and found on other sites dated to that period. Since it is in Akdepe that similar ce- hou ­se is in­tende­ d to block the path to trouble­ s, bo­wel di­sorde­ rs (as a drink and oint­ment). Me­ ramic items were found in huge quantities, scientists mis­for­tu­nes and di­sea­ses. The mi­raculous herb, dieval hea­lers inclu­ded the plant as an im­port­ant called it Akdepe ceramics. Goats are depicted on the mee ­ting de­ar guests at the doors­tep, brings go­ ing ­re­dient in ma­ny me­dicinal elixirs. In Cent­ral external friezes of small jugs. The lines coming from od luck and hap­pi­ness to fa­mi­ly mem­bers, li­ke a Asia, pla­gue and cho­le­ra bar­racks we­re fu­mi­ga­ the central rod to form the “tree of life” composi- maa ­gic t ­lis­man. Near­ly every fa­mi­ly has a stock of ted with har­ma­la. The ancient Aryan tri­bes, who tionally separate their figures. According to ancient the herb. Its smo­ke can soot­he, relax­ and di­sin­fect. gave ri­se to the civili­sa­tions of Eu­rope­ , Iran and beliefs, the tree of life is the life of a human, and the The ­re was a tradi­ ­tion: they bat­hed a ba­by in wa­ In ­dia, knew an Elixir of Im­mor­ta­li­ty – the sacred depiction of an argali or a mountain goat protects ter with harma­ ­la for­ty da­ys af­ter the birth to pro­ drink So­ma (Hao­ma). It is be­lieved that har­ma­la a human against illnesses and evils, since these ani- tect against the evil eye. Af­ter that, the child was was one of the ing­re­dients of the sacred drink. In mals symbolise fertility and strength. shown to re­la­tives and neigh­bours. The herb and North Afric­ a, the plant ig­sy­ryk was regar­ ­ded as The pattern gochak, the prototype of which is its seeds, harves­ted du­ring the bud­ding sea­son, a ma­gic and me­dicinal pa­nacea. Se­ed cap­su­les the horns of an argali or a mountain goat, is a magi- are wide­ ­ly used in tra­di­tio­nal me­dicine. The crus­ we ­re scat­te­red over em­bers and the smo­ke trea­ cal symbol of the amulet. The pattern that emerged hed and stea­med ae­rial part of the plant is used as ted hea­daches and the ef­ects of the evil eye. In in the Bronze Age is very popular among the Turk- a plas­ter on a brui­se or an ani­mal and in­sect bi­te. Azer bai­ ­jan and Tur­key, yuz­ ar­lik is con­si­de­red an men people. The motifs of an argali or a mountain In the dis­tant past, Turkme­ n tebib­ s used yu­zarlik­ amu ­let brin­ging go­od luck and pro­tecting against goat are so widespread in the ancient East that scientists suggested their totemic for this pur­po­se. the evil eye. function on the monuments of ancient art. In general, many beliefs, myths and Har­ma­la re­mains a po­pu­lar re­me­dy in folk The Sag­lyk Sta­te Prog­ram­me, develo­ legends of the Turkmen people are associated with these animals. me ­dicine not on­ly in Turk­me­nis­tan, but al­so across ped and imp­le­men­ted un­der the lea­ders­hip of Though the Turkmen people adopted Islam in the 8th century, the elements of the East. “Science has proven that the smo­ke from Pre ­si­dent Gurbanguly Ber­di­mu­ha­me­dov, at­taches Zoroastrianism, including beliefs and rites, have survived to this day. The Turkmen burnt yu­zar­lik prevents a num­ber of in­fectious di­ pa­ra­mount im­por­tance to develo­ping the phar­ people continue to believe that an argali helps the deceased go to heaven. A ram sea ses­ that break out in cer­tain ti­mes of the year maceutical in­dust­ry, using local raw ma­terials­ is slaughtered on the day of the funeral so that its soul accompanies the soul of the and boosts the im­mu­ne sys­tem,” the na­tio­nal lea­ and providing the peop­le and me­dical ins­ti­tu­tions deceased and helps him cross the thin bridge syrat. Muslims believe that the deep- der emp­ha­si­sed. of the count­ry with environ­men­tal­ly friend­ly and est abyss, across which a bridge as thick as a human hair and as sharp as a sword The stu­dies of this plant have shown that the com ­pe­ti­tive pro­ducts. stretches, divides the world of the living and the dead. If anyone did godly deeds smell of har­ma­la kills bacte­ria and in­sects and The dyna­ ­mic growth in the phar­maceutical in­ during their lifetime, then the bridge widens for them. He, who wants to cross this even drives away sna­kes. Mo­dern science has dust ­ry in the Era of Might and Hap­pi­ness and the bridge, must be pious and give sadaqah and huday yoly – the sacrifices during his proven the ef­ectiveness of the ancient practice const­ruction­ of new pharmac­ eutical en­terpri­ ­ses lifetime. The Turkmen people also believe that the hunter should not throw away the of app­lying the smo­ke from burnt har­ma­la stems fi t­ted with sta­te-of-the-art equip­ment and techno­ horns of an argali, mountain goat or goitered gazelle, which was considered a seri- and leaves. The facts are convincing that fu­mi­ lo­gies have pro­mo­ted re­search and develop­ment ous sin. He should take them to the grave of a saint or put them on a tree. Nowadays, ga tion­ in­hi­bits the growth of pat­hogens­ and pre- of medic­ al pro­ducts from local na­tural­ raw ma­te­ the Turkmen people continue to hang the horns of these animals on the entrance vents the spread of air­bor­ne di­sea­ses. rials. Ma­ny tra­di­tional­ me­dicine recipes, placed gate of the house as an amulet giving the family members protection against trou- Har ma­ ­la con­tains a num­ber of al­ka­loids – the on a scien­ti­fic ba­sis, are wi­de­ly used in mo­dern bles and illnesses. Gochak is depicted on tamdyr – the oven where bread is baked. or ga­ ­nic com­pounds that have a wi­de ran­ge of me ­dicine. They have la­id the ground­work for the The horns of an argali therefore firmly embedded in the ancient pattern go- phar mac­ olo­gical activities and show strong­ bio phar mac­ eutical in­dust­ry to develop new pro­ducts, chak and became an obligatory element in the carpet and embroidery patterns lo ­gical ef­ects on hu­mans. They tas­te bit­ter and in par­ticular, cand­les from pres­sed har­ma­la. It most of them are poi­sons. Ho­wever, the small used mostly as an amulet. Since all Turkmen patterns have particular meaning, should be no­ted that the specia­lists of the Sag­lyk doses­ of poi­sons can cure. The ma­in al­ka­loids and each of them is an embodiment of particular living creature, gochak is an am- phar mac­ eutical plant develo­ped the recipe of the accumu­la­ted in the plant are har­ma­li­ne, har­mi­ne, ulet giving protection to all living things represented in the patterns. This pattern new pro­duct. har­ma­lol, pe­ga­nin and pe­ga­mi­ne that are used is obligatory for all types of Teke carpets and rugs. Usually, the rows of one-colour The raw mat­e­rials for new pro­ducts are crus­ and multi-coloured patterns are placed opposite each other to form a rhombus for the treatme­ nt of various di­sea­ses. The Turk­men lea­der sug­ges­ted using sty­li­sed hed. Then wa­ter is ad­ded to the mixtu­re and a in the middle. The elements of gochak alternate with other patterns in various special dough is knea­ded. Then it is pres­sed and combinations. harma­ ­la twigs in the de­sign of the Bowl of the Fla ­me of the 5th Asian In­door and Mar­tial Arts dried. Fi­nis­hed pro­ducts are packed. One shift pro­ Turkmen carpet weavers have been preserving the ornamental compositions duces up to 1,000 cand­les. A cand­le placed in a of the Eneolithic and Bronze Ages over many millennia. Contemporary craftswom- Ga me­ s. The lea­der of the nation­ sa­ys, “It is not acciden ­tal that the emb­lem of health care fea­ special stand will fu­mi­ga­te the ro­om for 45 mi­nu­ en revive, study and use these carpet and embroidery patterns, which testifies to tes. The­re­fo­re, mo­dern techno­lo­gies will simp­li­fy deep roots of this art form and the importance of their symbols for the nation. tu re­ s yu­zar­lik that is wi­de­ly used in Turk­men folk me ­dicine and scien­ti­fic me­dicine to prevent and the use of the ancient folk recipe. Nurgozel BYASHIMOVA, treat ma­ny di­sea­ses…” In­na BU­ROVA, Candidate of Art History, a research worker at the Institute The hea­ling pro­per­ties of har­ma­la we­re NT of History and Archaeology, Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan known in ancient ti­mes. In the Aves­ta (8th-5th Pho­to: Sa­git BA­TA­LOV 8 Saturday 16 January 2021

grey hound.­ That ti­me, everyt­hing went ned Turkme­ n grey­hounds could al­ways well for Sa­kar, alt­hough if the caracal be se­en in his field camp. Camels, li­ke A Legend­ of the Hun­ting had be­en lar­ger and ol­der, the fight could lar­ge “ships of the de­sert”, do not li­ have had a sad en­ding for the dog. ke to gra­ze in clo­se com­pa­ny, and they The wounds hea­led a we­ek la­ter, but stretch out in a long li­ne, or even gat­her Great Balk­han Sto­ries left ­bare­ly visib­le scars. The psycho­lo­ into­ several lar­ge groups. The­re­fo­re, the gical stress from this fight tur­ned out to most practical and ir­replac­ eab­le trans­ All sorts of occasions, which so­ be much mo­re severe for Sak­ ar: the grey­ port of Ke­rim aga for ri­ding and packing me ­ti­mes leave very strong imp­res­ hound lost its “gift of speech” f­ta er that was his mee­k and hardy­ hor­se. When sions, not al­ways plea­sant ones, in the incident. Brave Sa­kar lived and served driving in a camel that had strayed from me ­mo­ry of not on­ly peop­le, but al­so peop ­le for anot­her ten years; it si­lent­ly the herd, so­me­ti­mes the shep­herd no­ ani ­mals, al­ways occur in hun­ting. drove its prey, and in a mo­ment of anxi- ticed the hor­se un­der his sadd­le light­ly “Tho ­se who have not se­en fe­ar have ety or joy, it pro­duced a ba­re­ly au­dib­le bi ­ting the fu­gi­tive. Af­ter such “educatio­ not be­en on the hunt,” peop­le say. Here­ squea ­ling sound. This scene arou­sed a nal mea­su­res” the re­nega­ ­de camel hur­ are some­ sto­ries on this the­me. fee ­ling of pi­ty in Aman each ti­me, and he ried to the herd. stro ­ked the grey­hound for a long ti­me, The hor­se was al­so an in­dis­pen­sab­ A Fight at the Cost of a Voice gent­ly clas­ping his friend to his chest. le as­sis­tant in hun­ting with grey­hounds. The Great Balk­han is a moun­tain ran­ge in the west of Turk­me­ On one of such da­ys, when the dogs we­ nis ­tan, in the Bal­kan velayat, ne­ar the south-eas­tern coast of the A greyhound­ Sa­kar ap­peare­ d in the Cas ­pian Sea. The dry river bed se­pa­ra­tes it from the Small Balk­han re chasing­ a fox, Ke­rim aga, as usual, her ding­ camp of Ser­dar aga when it Har­mo­ny among Part­ners and the wes­tern end of the Ko­pet­dag rid­ge. The hig­hest point of was clo­sing the cha­se. The grey­hounds was a pup­py. Sa­kar, smart, mo­de­ra­te­ly Once we went hun­ting in a group, the Great Balkhan­ is Mount Ar­lan. The moun­tains are fa­mous in all quickly dealt with the fluf­y che­at. The play­ful, agi­le and surp­ri­sing­ly obe­dient, con ­sis­ting of a young falconer Dov- the sur­roun­dings, and the rid­ge it­self looks li­ke a fort­ress, to­wering­ shep ­herd lif­ted the mo­tion­less lar­ge coped per­fectly with the ro­le of a hun­ let, an expe­rienced hun­ter Ka­kov and over the sur­roun­ding plains. fox from the ground, deft­ly strap­ped ter entrus­ ­ted to it. Aman, the shep­herd’s me with my bird and grey­hound Me­ Ma n­y le­gends are as­socia­ted with the moun­tain sys­tem of el ­dest son, became a coach and a kind, le ­kush. The falcon was in the air when it to the sadd­le and has­te­ned back to the Great Balkhan.­ Thus, the­re are wi­desp­read le­gends about the caring friend for the grey­hound. The the young grey­hound rus­hed for­ward the camp. App­roaching the shep­herd’s valour of peop­le living in the moun­tains, who expe­rienced ma­ny or­ nimb ­le dog quickly got used to a new unexpected­ly. Af­ter flying for a long ­ti camp, the ri­der dis ­moun­ted and led the deals. One of the le­gends sa­ys that once the Great Balk­han aboun­ place. At night, it craw­led un­der the me wit­hout a diving at­tack, the bird for hor ­se with a brid­le. Sud­den­ly, the fil­ly ded in moun­tain springs, but du­ring one of the ene­my raids, the blan ­ket to its pat­ron and slept peaceful­ so­me reason­ sat down far from us ne­ar abt ­rup ­ly snatched the re­in from the ow­ locals clog­ged them with felt mats. When the ene­mies left, peop­ ly in warmth and com­fort. As so­ ner’s hands, kicked up and rus­hed le fai­led to ma­ke the precious wa­ter come back. The­re is a ho­pe on as the dawn bro­ke, Sa­kar and along the du­nes. Ke­rim aga stood in this le­gend that the wa­ter will re­turn, and the sur­roun­dings of the young shep­herd set of with in a da­ze – the mee­k horse­ had Balkhan­ will again turn in­to a bloo­ming oa­sis. the herd to dis­tant pas­tu­res. By never be­haved li­ke that. “What Anot he­ r le­gend sa­ys that in ancient ti­mes, on the top of the the age of eight months, such a if she got ra­bies?” the old man moun ­tain of the Great Balk­han, the gods of the moun­tains, hea­ way of field li­fe has transf­or­med thought. ded by the most po­werful­ divine pat­ron of the Balk­han, Arlan,­ li­ked Sa ­kar from a very le­an ta­zy in­to The anxiety quickly brought to have a rest. When he rose­ above the moun­tains, he was al­ways a strong greyhound­ with ro­bust Kerim­ aga back to rea­li­ty, and he incre­dib­ly hap­py about the beau­ty of tho­se places. And then one cons ­ti­tu­tionand excel­lent orien­ta­ be ­gan to think over how to iso­la­ day, flying over the rid­ges, Ar­lan told his sub­jects to crea­te a place tion skills in the invisib­le king­dom te quickly his faith­ful hor­se from whe ­re he could rest and where­ people­ could come and sha­re their of smells. Short­ly, Sa­kar ins­pi­red ot ­her ani­mals. At that mo­ment, expe ­riences. terror­ in cun­ning and shif­ty foxes. the greyhounds,­ all the ti­me run­ At the sa­me mo­ment, the gods be­gan to fuss and think over It hap­pe­ned when Sak­ar was an the bush. Me­le­kush ran head­long past ning next to the hor­se, sud­den­ly jum­ped what new they could bring to their na­tive na­tu­re. Then the god of adult. Sa­kar was peaceful­ly fol­lo­wing the win­ged part­ner and di­sap­pea­red up and snatched the fox of the sadd­le. the fo­rest conju­ ­red mea­dow flo­wers, groves and scat­te­red cherr­y the herd, and sud­den­ly, rai­sing its he­ad be ­hind the thickets. Af­ter a whi­le, I hea­ Everyt hing­ became cle­ar on­ly then. Af­ter plum trees on the slo­pes. The pat­ron of wa­ter star­ted a stream high, it be­gan to sip the air with its no­ ded to the bird and saw the dog on the the hor­se had cal­med down, it stop­ped so that no one nee­ded wa­ter, and the pro­tector of ani­mals rai­sed se. A mi­nu­te or two la­ter, the dog quickly ho ­ri­zon slow­ly coming back. It was not ne ­ar a lar­ge saxaul tree. The cun­ning count le­ ss flocks of sheep and goats so that no one would ever ne­ed tur ­ned around and gal­lo­ped back along alo ­ne – a hard­ly iden­ti­fiab­le ani­mal was pre da­ ­tor, hobb­ling on the ground with food­ and warm clot­hes. the lar­ge du­ne. The young shep­herd fol ­lo­wing it. The falcon flew up in­to the tight ­ly ban­da­ged legs, tried to reach the A f­ter so­me ti­me, the sanctua­ry for Ar­lan was rea­dy, and he de- rea li­ ­sed that Sa­kar had sen­sed its prey. sky and swoo­ped down on the unk­nown saving bush. Ho­wever, the grey­hounds cided to ma­ke a big feast, whe­re all the gods gat­he­red, except for Aman dis­moun­ted from his hor­se and crea­tu­re that had di­sap­pea­red from dep­rived it of this op­por­tu­ni­ty. the god of light­ning, who could not accept that Arlan­ was recog­ clim ­bed the high du­ne, as he had to ta­ke our eyes by that ti­me. We all hur­ried to Kerim­ aga app­roached the de­ ni ­sed as the chie­ f among the gods. And on the day when, it would the fox from the greyhound­ so that the the place where­ we found my falcon, jected ­ly stan­ding hor­se and saw sev- se e­ m, not­hing could prevent a hap­py ho­li­day, the god of light­ning dog could not da­mage­ its fur. Ho­wever, tight ­ly gras­ping the jaw of a dan­ge­rous eral blee­ding wounds from the sharp decided to res­to­re jus­tice and chal­len­ge Arlan­ to batt­le. that ti­me, he heard the pi­ercing, plain­ and agi­le pre­da­tor, a sand cat, with its teeth of the fox on its swea­ty si­de. It It was a batt­le of strong and po­werful­ gods. The moun­tains tive howl of the grey­hound ins­tead of its sharp claws. Ap­pa­rent­ly, Me­le­kush hel­ tur ­ned out that when caught, the fluf­y shook with the ro­ar of thun­der, pi­erced by bright flas­hes of light­ vigo ­rous bar­king. The expe­rienced ow­ ped much its win­ged friend – a strong prey fell in­to an unconscious sta­te from ning. At so­me point, the god of light­ning rea­li­sed that Arlan­ was ner of the dog un­ders­tood that his faith­ dog’s bi­te im­mo­bi­li­sed the hind limbs of shock, but it re­gai­ned conscious­ness ala ­re dy­ at his last gasp and it was ti­me to stri­ke the fi­nal blow. But ful friend in the hunt had encoun­ter a far the pre­da­tor. On­ly then, I no­ticed dee­ p du ­ring the sha­ky jour­ney and clutched he did not have enough cou­ra­ge to do it. And then he rea­li­sed that from we­ak ene­my and rus­hed to help. wounds on the grey­hound. at the hor­se’s si­de. all the ti­me their rival­ry with Ar­lan had be­en mea­ning­less. Af­ter When he reached the scene of the dra­ The hun­ting bird re­mai­ned in­dif­e­ A f­ter that incident, every ti­me the all, Ar­lan did so much to trans­form the Balkhans.­ On the slo­pes, ma, Aman saw such a spectacle: Sa­kar, rent to fo­od for several da­ys. That fight me ­ek hor­se saw a de­ad fox in the ow­ cher r­y plum trees and mea­dow flo­wers bloome­ d. Streams babb­ with dif­ cul­ty overcoming a shiver, was to ­ok too much strength of it. Because ner’s hands, it im­media­ ­te­ly trans­for­ led along the moun­tain gor­ges, and the so­no­rous sin­ging of birds licking the wounds on its limbs, and a fox the sligh­test mis­ta­ke of the heaven­ly med in­to a wild mus­tang, ready­ to use was heard in all the sur­roun­dings. “Was I ab­le to do it?” the god of and a small caracal we­re lying breath­ hun ­ter in cap­tu­ring prey or the he­si­ta­ its strong teeth and “steel” hooves at light ­ning as­ked him­self. And he had to ad­mit that it would not have less ­ly be­si­de it. Af­ter exami­ning the trac- tion of the fo­ur-leg­ged as­sis­tant could any ti­me. Since then, expe­rienced Kerim­ be ­en possib­ ­le for him. This en­ded their rival­ry. And at that mo­ment es of the batt­le in the sand, Aman ima­gi­ cost the li­fe of the win­ged pre­da­tor. Ho­ aga had to skulk be­hind the du­nes and all na­tu­re re­joiced. The bright sun­rays sho­ne over the moun­tain, ned the pictu­re of the incident. wever, that time­ the har­mo­ny bet­ween care ­ful­ly hi­de the prey in a bag. On­ly af­ which was na­med af­ter Arlan.­ Ap­pa­rent­ly, the grey­hound and the the two partners­ in the hunt saved one ter that, he could strap the mys­te­rious The se­ le­gends, which have ab­sor­bed the cen­tu­ries-old expe­ fox met in front of the caracal’s place of of them from cer­tain death. “bag ­ga­ge” to the sadd­le, as in the old rience and wis­dom of the peop­le, are a mes­sa­ge to descen­dants. rest at night. Af­ter Sa­kar had coped deft­ly da­ys. They tell about ho­nour and valour and teach friends­hip and abi­li­ty with the fox, the less expe­rienced de­sert Ata­dur­dy EYE­BER­DIYEV, to ma­ke the right choice. lynx, per­haps out of fe­ar or obeying the A Wild Mus­tang Na­tio­nal Falconers Society Svet­la­na DAVIDOVICH, na ­tu­ral ins­tinct of a wild pre­da­tor, decid- Kerim­ aga has be­en gra­zing the of Turk­me­nis­tan NT ed to start an un­success­ful fight with the camel herds all his li­fe. Several well-trai­ Pho­to: Sa­git BA­TA­LOV Pho­to: the aut­hor SEA­SO­NAL ILL­NESS PREVEN­TION TIPS: 1. When coug­hing and snee­zing, cover your no­se with a hand­kerchi­ef. 4. Drink her­bal te­as and in­fu­sions of such plants as ro­se­hips, mint, cha­mo­mi­le and 2. Ke­ep your hands cle­an, ob­serve a dis­tance of 2 met­res and we­ar masks cor­rectly. liquorice ro­ot, scien­ti­fical­ly descri­bed in the bo­ok of the dis­tin­guis­hed Pre­si­dent Gurbanguly Berdi­ ­mu­ha­me­dov Me­dicinal Plants of Turkme­ ­nis­tan. 3. In no case should you be car­ried away by self-me­dication, es­pecial­ly with re­gard to an­ti­bacte­rial agents, as this can re­duce the bo­dy’s re­sis­tance and can increa­se the 5. For the preven­tion of sea­so­nal di­sea­ses, you can be preven­tively vaccina­ted af­ter a re­sis­tance of microor­ga­nisms to an­ti­bacte­rial agents. con­sul­ta­tion with your fa­mi­ly doctor.

Ashgabat, Garashsyzlyk shayoly: The electronic version of the tel: Center for Free Creativity of newspaper is available at: Editor-in-Chief 38-61-18 The supplement to Turkmenbashi. http://turkmenmetbugat.gov.tm/ Commissioning Editor 39-95-88 Editor-in-Chief E-mail: http://metbugat.gov.tm/ and also in Secretariat 39-95-82 Maya [email protected] mobile Neutral the application "Türkmenmetbugat" Turkmenistan ALIMOVA Price 30 tenge The newspaper is published by the Publishing Centre of Turkmenistan; 20, 1995 Str., Number of copies 7, 318 Ashgabat The Publishing Centre of Turkmenistan is responsible for the print quality A - 105476