From 13 to 15 December 2022, a Council of Europe delegation visited Turkmenistan in the framework of the Central Asia Rule of Law Programme. The visit aimed at conducting a range of meetings with national authorities and international partners in the country active in the areas covered by the Programme.
The meetings with national stakeholders allowed to finetune the priority actions and agree on concrete activities to be carried out in the course of 2023 in accordance with the needs of the national institutions and Programme objectives. Exchanges were held with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Prosecutor’s General Office, the Ministry of Finance, the Supreme Court and the Civil Service Academy.
The meeting with the European Union Delegation to Turkmenistan was instrumental to exchange latest information about the planned activities in 2023 and identify possible joint activities in Turkmenistan.
The Programme team also held exchanges with the representatives of international organisations, including UN agencies working in the country on human rights and rule of law issues. Potential synergies and common ground for co-ordinated activities were discussed.
In the framework of the visit, a lecture on Council of Europe’s role, its values, standards and instruments was delivered to around 50 students of the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan. The lecture and the subsequent discussion revealed a substantial interest in the European organisations such as the Council of Europe and the European Union, from these future Turkmen specialists in international relations.
The Central Asia Rule of Law Programme 2020-2023 is a joint initiative co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.
