Presidential Spokesperson Sherzod Asadov summarized Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s working visit to Turkmenistan.
According to him, the head of state’s working visit to Avaza, on the Caspian coast, where the Third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries took place, was another confirmation of the special nature of Uzbek-Turkmen relations.
“It is no coincidence that Turkmenistan was the location of the first state visit of the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, in March 2017. Since then, thanks to the personal contribution of the head of our state, the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, and President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, relations between the two fraternal countries have reached a fundamentally new level. Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are demonstrating an example of truly good-neighborly and strategic partnership in Central Asia,” Asadov noted.
It is noteworthy that within the framework of the conference, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was awarded the Order of Turkmenistan “For Contribution to the Development of Cooperation.”
It was noted that in recent years, the President of Uzbekistan has been awarded a number of the highest state awards from neighboring countries in the region and leading countries of the world, as well as regional organizations. These include the orders “Altyn Qyran” and “Dostuk” of Kazakhstan, “Danaker” of Kyrgyzstan, “Zarrintoch” of Tajikistan, Alexander Nevsky of Russia, the Legion of Honor of France, the Turkish Order of the Republic, the Supreme Order of the Turkic World, the Honorary Sign of the CIS, the Honorary Sign of the Heads of State of Central Asia, and many others.
“Of course, each of these awards is not only a high assessment of the activities of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev as a leader. It is a recognition of all the joint work with his colleagues—the heads and leaders of states—with whom a solid architecture of mutual trust, openness, and partnership is being built. All of them are co-authors of the achievements that today make Central Asia a region of cooperation, not competition.
And all these awards add up to a single coordinate system in which Uzbekistan is increasingly perceived as a reliable, responsible, and proactive partner. At the same time, the foreign policy strategy of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is not built on loud statements—it is confirmed by concrete actions: agreements, projects, open borders, joint corridors, and dialogue platforms. All this is in the name of improving the lives and increasing the well-being of our people,” the statement reads.
It is emphasized that, from this point of view, the awarding of the Order of Turkmenistan testifies to the high assessment of Uzbekistan’s active and constructive position in ensuring stability and cooperation in the region. This is a signal: in the context of alarming geopolitics, a lack of trust, and new risks, the stability that Uzbekistan and its partners are building in the region is perceived as a value. And whoever ensures this stability receives well-deserved recognition.
A vivid illustration of this was also the touching moment at the end of the visit: Arkadag personally accompanied the President of Uzbekistan to the airport, setting aside the traditional protocol formalities for Turkmenistan. Such a gesture is not just a sign of mutual respect, but an expression of the special fraternal relationship that has developed between our countries, the presidential press secretary concluded.