Turkmenistan - EC: 30 years of cooperation

The EU Delegation to Turkmenistan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan organised a joint conference “30 Years of Cooperation: working together for a better future”. The event was held on 14 May 2024 to promote three decades of partnership between EU and Turkmenistan.

The meeting was attended by the EU and Turkmenistan high-level representatives, diplomats, civil servants of Turkmenistan, and representatives of regional and national projects funded by the European Union. Rashid Meredov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, and Ms Terhi Hakala, EU Special Representative for Central Asia, addressing the conference participants, spoke on the evolving ties between the EU and Turkmenistan. They emphasised the particular importance of further enhancing cooperation between the regions, as well as strengthening ties for further development and prosperity.

International projects implemented under the Erasmus+ Programme in the field of higher education in the country have demonstrated the examples of successful cooperation between the EU and Turkmenistan. Coordinator of the National Erasmus+ Office in Turkmenistan Ayna Chorekliyeva focused in her speech on fruitful ties developed in join projects between the Turkmen HE Institutions and the EU leading universities which supported the Turkmen academic staff to gain experience in e-learning, and provided them with enormous amount of factual material and practice to be used for teaching and academic research. Participation in Erasmus+ projects aids to develop new specialties and disciplines for Turkmenistan's universities, improve the qualifications of teachers, and introduce innovative teaching methods.

The achieved results of five Turkmen universities, participated in the NICoPA (New and Innovative Courses on Precision Agriculture) and GEOCLIC (New Courses on Geospatial Engineering for Climate Change Adaptation of Coastal Ecosystems) projects were demonstrated by O. Durdyyev, Local Coordinator from S. Niyazov Turkmen Agricultural University. NICoPA and GEOCLIC have provided great support to Turkmen partners in developing skills for applying modern technologies to be used for controlling the natural balance in the region. The developments introduced in the project frameworks are aimed to address the negative environmental impacts that will definitely contribute to the safety of the whole region.