A meeting of the National Commission of Turkmenistan for UNESCO was held on January 20. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, Rashid Meredov, who chaired the meeting, summed up the activities of the Interdepartmental Commission for UNESCO for 2023 and outlined the priority areas for its further work, the Turkmen Foreign Ministry reported.
It was noted that during 2023, four international documents were signed between Turkmenistan and UNESCO, and measures were taken to preserve the rich cultural and natural heritage of the Turkmen people to increase its significance at the international level.
Particular attention was paid to joint efforts to include the national values of Turkmenistan on the UNESCO World Heritage List. In this context, in September last year, the transnational sites “The Great Silk Road: Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor”, as well as the “Turan Temperate Deserts” and the national nomination “Ahal-Teke horse breeding art and traditions of horse decoration” were included in the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
UNESCO departments were opened in two higher educational institutions of the country, and six secondary schools in Turkmenistan were included in the UNESCO Associated Schools network. In 2023, the Youth Organization of Turkmenistan became an official member of the UNESCO Global Youth Community.
During last year the collection of manuscripts of the Turkmen philosopher and poet Magtymguly Pyragy was included in the UNESCO International Memory of the World List, and the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the birth of the classic of Turkmen literature was added to the list of UNESCO memorial dates in 2024-2025.
