New forms of cooperation between the United Nations and five Central Asian states will be offered by the UN Centre for Preventive Diplomacy, Itar-Tass reported.

Its opening was discussed in Ashgabat on Friday by Turkmen President Gurbangula Berdymukhamedov and deputy director of the Asia and Pacific Division in the UN Secretariat’s Department of Political Affairs Vladimir Goryayev, the presidential press service said.

The opening the centre is timed to coincide with the 12th anniversary of the UN General Assembly resolution on Turkmenistan’s neutrality passed on 12 December 1995.

According to the Turkmen president, the UN Centre for Preventive Diplomacy will become "a UN outpost in Central Asia and an effective tool for conflict prevention and peaceful resolution of crises".

Ashgabat acquired successful experience of preventive diplomacy during the UN brokered talks on the resolution of the conflicts in Afghanistan and told journalists in the early 1990s.

According to Goryayev, high-ranking officials from 50 countries and major international organisations have already confirmed their participation in the Ashgabat conference on international cooperation in the field of preventive diplomacy.

The United Nations had earlier endorsed Turkmenistan’s proposal to host a regional peace centre – a centre for preventive diplomacy – in Ashgabat.

Goryayev visited Turkmenistan in July of this year to discuss practical steps for the creation of the centre of preventive diplomacy in Ashgabat, an idea that was floated by Turkmenistan several years ago.

During the meeting with Berdymukhamedov at Hazar place, the Caspian coastal residence of the president of Turkmenistan, Goryayev said that the UN fully supported the idea.

Speaking to Turkmen media after the meeting, Goryayev said Turkmenistan would get full support for the establishment of the centre for preventive diplomacy in Ashgabat.

He said that the proposed centre was important for the United Nations, it was important for the region and it was important for neutral Turkmenistan.

Goryayev added that Turkmenistan’s past record was fully compatible with the scope of the centre’s activities and it would help prevent extremism and terrorism in the region.

At the beginning of November, Berdimuhamedov visited the office building that will house the UN Centre for Preventive Diplomacy to be located in the former Demiryolchy Hotel on Archabil Avenue in the south of the Turkmen capital.

The president examined the conference-hall and other premises of the building, where the preparations for the forthcoming event were in full swing. The centre in Ashgabat is the UN’s unique regional structure. It will work in a number of areas in the interests of ensuring peace, security and sustainable development of the Central Asian countries. The Turkmen capital will play a key coordinating role in this process, Berdimuhamedov said.

Plans by the United Nations to set up a preventive diplomacy centre in Central Asia represent a milestone in the world body’s efforts to bring peace and stability to the region, Berdymukhamedov told the General Assembly in September 2007.

The Turkmen president said his country was certain that the work of the center could be "a strong positive force in resolving the problems our region faces." Vowing to "do everything necessary to make the centre’s work effective and fruitful," the president told the annual high-level debate that cooperation with the UN was the critical element in Turkmenistan’s wider foreign policy.

"This is most apparent in regional matters, where it is the participation of the United Nations and its specialised agencies that promotes convergence of approaches of States to issues, [and the] creation of a favourable political, diplomatic and legal environment for their resolution by joint effort," he said.

The principles enshrined in the UN Charter "should continue to serve as the moral and legal pillar of the international order," and all UN reforms should take account of this, he said.

The idea of creating the centre was first put forward by late Saparmurat Niyazov, the first president of Turkmenistan. In his article in the issue 2, 2004, of UN Chronicle, he cited the permanent neutrality of his country as the main argument for the establishment of the peace centre.

Niyazov wrote, "Turkmenistan’s neutrality is not a shell to protect us from threats and troubles of the world at large. On the contrary, it is a strong position to actively influence the situation in the region and in the world as a whole to promote effective international cooperation, which is an important factor of internal economic development in present conditions."

"One of the main priorities of [Turkmenistan’s cooperation with the UN] is the maintenance of international peace and security and good neighbourly relations with other states, as well as conflict prevention and settlement of existing hotbeds of confrontations," he said.

Referring to the first round of the Forum on Conflict Prevention and Sustainable Development for Central Asia that was held in October 2003 in Ashgabat under the auspices of the UN and OSCE, Niyazov said, "We believe it is necessary to establish a UN Centre for Preventive Diplomacy in Central Asia in the context of raising the effectiveness of the instruments of preventive diplomacy. Turkmenistan stands ready to provide full assistance in the establishment of the centre in the capital of our neutral state."

He said, "The establishment of a regional Consultative Council for the heads of Central Asian states would also serve the aim of building confidence in the region and be an efficient mechanism of crisis and conflict prevention."

Giving the idea a wider scope, Niyazov offered, "Turkmenistan is ready to provide the UN bodies with all necessary resources to increase their presence in the region by opening up headquarters of other UN agencies in our capital. The republic has every condition for that, including housing and service infrastructure. We are ready to consider the issue of providing maximum economic benefits to the UN agencies working in Turkmenistan. Such an approach would allow the United Nations to save substantial financial resources that could be redirected to solve urgent problems in accordance with the UN Charter’s aims within the frame of its programs."

The idea of establishing the centre was also supported by regional leaders.

Article 5 of the agreement between Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan on friendship, strengthening of trust and development of cooperation, signed by Niyazov and Uzbek President Islam Karimov in Bukhara on November 19, 2004, said: "The high contract parties attach special importance for further strengthening the role of the United Nations and its Security Council, realization of the purposes and principles as specified in the documents of OSCE, other authoritative international organisations, in the task of prevention and settlement of conflicts, decisions of questions related to safety and stability, strengthening of trust. In this connection the high contract parties recognize the necessity of creation of a Regional Centre of the United Nations on Preventive Diplomacy with its headquarters in Ashgabat and Central Asian Regional Information Centre of the United Nations on struggle against trans-national crimes, connected with trafficking in narcotics, in Tashkent."

Near the end of 2004 Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbaev sent a letter to Turkmenistan, showing his full support for the peace centre in Ashgabat. Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan also supported the centre.