Experts from the member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States have agreed on a draft Action Plan for holding the Year of Folk Art and Cultural Heritage in the CIS in 2022.
The meeting of the expert group was attended by representatives of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, the Secretariat of the IPA CIS Council, the Interstate Fund for Humanitarian Cooperation and the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth.
Having considered the amendments to the draft Action Plan received from the states, the experts finalized the document. It was decided to submit it in accordance with the established procedure for consideration by the Council of CIS Heads of Governments.
The draft Action Plan for the Year of Folk Art and Cultural Heritage in the Commonwealth of Independent States in 2022 was developed in pursuance of the Decision of the Council of CIS Heads of State on declaring 2022 the Year of Folk Art and Cultural Heritage in the Commonwealth of Independent States, 2023 - the Year of the Russian language as an interethnic language communication.
The plan consists of six sections and includes more than a hundred events of a general humanitarian orientation, to preserve the traditions of folk art, historical and cultural heritage, cultural heritage in the field of arts, literature, as well as in the field of sports and tourism.
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was established in December 1991. In the adopted declaration, the members of the Commonwealth declared their interaction on the basis of sovereign equality.
It should be recalled that the CIS unites: the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Republic of Uzbekistan and Ukraine.
Taking into account the neutral status of Turkmenistan on August 26, 2005, at the summit in Kazan, the heads of the CIS states took note of the statement that Turkmenistan would continue its participation in the Commonwealth as an associate member in the spirit of sincere friendship and cooperation.
Since then, Turkmenistan has shown unwavering commitment to its international legal status, in fact confirming that neutrality, peacefulness and good neighborliness constitute the basic basis of its foreign policy, aimed, among other things, at facilitating the successful implementation of tasks within the CIS. This is confirmed both in the Concept of the Foreign Policy Course of Turkmenistan for 2017-2023, and in the speeches of the country's leadership. Thus, at the Sochi summit in October 2017, the highly respected President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Myalikguliyevich Berdimuhamedov emphasized: “Although Turkmenistan is an associate member of the CIS, in its international policy it gives priority to the Commonwealth of Independent States as the main authoritative international structure. And further we will continue this foreign policy line, despite our associated and neutral status”.
Today there is every reason to note the increased interest of Turkmenistan in cooperation with partners in the CIS in recent years. This applies primarily to the economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres, initiatives to hold a number of events of general significance for the CIS countries. A kind of culmination of the level of interaction between Turkmenistan and the countries of the Commonwealth is the decisions of the country's leadership, events and events related to the chairmanship of the Turkmen side in the Commonwealth of Independent States in 2019. This chairmanship is carried out by Turkmenistan through its representatives simultaneously in the Council of Heads of State, Council of Heads of Government, Council of Foreign Ministers, Economic Council, and Council of Permanent Plenipotentiaries of States under the statutory and other bodies of the Commonwealth, as well as in the Commission on Economic Affairs under the CIS Economic Council.
Prepared by Janmamed Gulamov
