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Interview of the Permanent Representative of Turkmenistan to United
Nations in Geneva
h.e. ambassador vepa hajiyev

His Excellency arrived in Geneva almost a year Afghanistan. I first served as desk officer of Iran,
ago, and he has already become a familiar face and then desk officer of Afghanistan and Turkey,
in the international community. His Excellency in the Department of Middle Eastern Affairs,
is a nice, dynamic and pleasant person, who is eventually I became the Director of the Depart-
extremely busy between the different activi- ment and then being appointed Deputy Minister
ties in Geneva. He had only been here a couple of Foreign Affairs in 2006.
of weeks, before he organized the first cultural
event in the United Nations, and there are more On December 11, 2023, I was honored to be ap-
to come. His Excellency would like us to learn pointed by Esteemed President of Turkmenistan
more about his country. His Excellency is a spe- as the Permanent Representative of Turkmeni-
cialist in Persian language, and have spent many stan to the United Nations agencies in Geneva,
years as diplomat in Turkmenistan’s neighboring while also serving as Ambassador to Switzer-
countries. We had the chance to meet with him land. Throughout my career, I have been deeply
on a snowy Winter Day. The floor is yours, Your committed to advancing Turkmenistan’s princi-
Excellency… ples of neutrality, fostering multilateral dialogue,
and contributing to international peace and de-
Your Excellency, could you please tell us a little velopment.
bit about yourself and your background in Turk-
menistan? You are a career diplomat and a former Deputy
Certainly. I studied Persian language and gradu- Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.
ated from Turkmen State University. I then be- Could you tell us about your work before com-
gan my career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ing here?
of Turkmenistan, where I gained extensive expe- I don’t like to speak much about myself, so I will
rience in various roles. My diplomatic career was keep it brief. That’s right, as I have already men-
dedicated to our neighboring countries, Iran and tioned from 2006 to 2023, I served as the Deputy

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