On November 21, 2022, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan V. Hajiyev held a meeting with a delegation led by the Regional Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Central Asia, Ms. Ashita Mittal, who arrived in Ashgabat on a working visit.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Turkmen side expressed gratitude to the UNODC regional representative for the visit and efforts to jointly organize the 55th session of the Sub-Commission on Illicit Drug Trafficking and Related Issues in the Near and Middle East in Ashgabat.

Then, during the meeting, the parties noted that the event is of particular importance in the context of Turkmenistan's membership in the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs for 2020-2023. The parties expressed their conviction that the results of the session will serve as a basis for further cooperation both in the region and in the world as a whole in the fight against illicit drug trafficking.

During the meeting, the parties highly appreciated the level of cooperation between Turkmenistan and UNODC and discussed the implementation of national, regional and global UNODC programs to combat drug trafficking.

The parties also considered a number of issues related to the Action Plan (“Roadmap”) for the further development of cooperation between Turkmenistan and UNODC for the period from 2022 to 2025.

In addition, the Initiative to Strengthen Cross-border Cooperation of the UNODC Program for the Countries of Central Asia was discussed.

Highly praising the effectiveness of bilateral cooperation and, having considered the achievements of the Turkmen customs service, the parties recognized the success of Turkmenistan's efforts to integrate into the world economy and open new international trade relations.

Taking the opportunity, V. Hajiyev invited Ms. A. Mittal to take part in the Conference “Dialogue is a Guarantee of Peace”, which will be held in the Turkmen capital on December 11 this year

On the sidelines of the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly,  Georgian Foreign Minister took part in the  High-Level Meeting on Protecting Cultural Heritage – an Imperative for Humanity”: Acting together against the destruction and trafficking of cultural property by terrorist groups and organized crime
The meeting was organised by the Governments of Italy and Jordan, on the joint initiative of UNESCO, INTERPOL and UNODC, and was dedicated to the issues of protecting cultural heritage during conflicts.
Mikheil Janelidze addressed the attending audience underlining the challenge of protecting cultural heritage was well known to Georgia. The Minister noted that the Russian aggression of August 2008 and subsequent occupation have endangered historic monuments located in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions of Georgia. Mikheil Janelidze underlined that in a continuation of the policy of ethnic cleansing, the cultural heritage of the occupied territories remained a subject to stylistic falsifications aimed at obliterating cultural associations with Georgian history and cultural identity. Ancient works of arts have intentionally being destroyed and Georgian monasteries of many centuries old were being replaced with temples of foreign appearance, the Minister added.
Mikheil Janelidze expressed his deepest regret over the recent attacks on historic sites in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen and underlined that trafficking of cultural goods not only damaged the cultural heritage of the country and eradicated traces of the past, but became one of the main sources of terrorism and organized crime financing.
The Georgian Foreign Minister stated that preservation of cultural heritage was not a task for one particular state – it needed the international community’s joint endeavours. Mikheil Janelidze noted that Georgia welcomed the “Unite4Heritage” campaign and other initiatives launched by UNESCO and that Georgia has successfully participated in one of campaigns and its efforts were assessed as one of best practices.