The XXV Conference of the Humanitarian Association of Turkmens of the World was held in Ashgabat on Saturday, 14 September. The forum, traditionally held on the eve of Independence Day, was attended by representatives of Turkmen diasporas from abroad, as well as delegates from all regions of the country.

At the opening of the HAWT conference, a welcoming message from President Serdar Berdimuhamedov was read out, in which he noted that the Humanitarian Association of World Turkmens plays an important role in strengthening international relations and promoting the culture, customs and traditions, history, literature, and language of the Turkmen people. The Association has become a prestigious organization making great efforts to unite the Turkmens of the world. There is a lot of work to be done to further strengthen fraternal relations and develop effective cooperation in economic, cultural, scientific, educational, healthcare, and business spheres, especially in promoting the rich spiritual and cultural heritage of our people, TDH state news agency quoted the head of state as saying.

During the meeting, the delegates were comprehensively informed about the large-scale socio-economic programs being successfully implemented, aimed at increasing the well-being of the people and the international prestige of Turkmenistan, as well as the major international projects being carried out by our country, contributing to the further development of fruitful cooperation with the countries of the world.

Currently, there are 27 branches of the Humanitarian Association of World Turkmens operating in 14 countries, namely in the Russian Federation, Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, Ukraine, Afghanistan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

Representatives from Germany, Afghanistan, the UAE, and Turkey, speaking about the activities of the Association's foreign branches, proudly noted that today, independent neutral Turkmenistan is demonstrating in practice its desire to comprehensively develop traditional ties of friendship, mutual respect, good-neighborliness, and mutually beneficial cooperation with foreign countries in various fields.

Forum participants noted that thanks to the established long-standing ties, Turkmens living in different parts of the world preserve and pass on their native language and national traditions from generation to generation.

ORIENT news