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The
State: The Independent Türkmen state was founded after 600 years. The
significance of today’s Türkmen State can be understood better when
examined from a historical perspective. When the period in which Türkmens
lived without a state is compared with today, it is seen that the state
is the only principle that unites the people.
(252)
The
state is responsible to each citizen and ensures the creation of
conditions for the free development of each personality. The life,
honour, dignity and freedom, personal inviolability, and the natural and
inalienable rights of the citizen are protected.
(256)
The
fundamental feature of our state is its being a nation-state. This trait
can be understood better when compared with the Soviets who ruled us for
70 years. Soviet domination worked to keep the Türkmens, who are the
real owners of this land, backward rather than to make the country
develop and progress. The Soviets did not only exploit the natural
resources of Türkmen for their sake and the sake of others but also
tried to annihilate completely the national and moral values of the Türkmens.
(254)
The
state guarantees the freedom of belief and worship for all religions and
their equality before the law. Religious organizations are separate from
the state and are not permitted to interfere in state affairs. The state
educational system is separated from religious organizations and is of a
secular nature.
(257)
The
state is the essence of the national spirit. That is why the nation
state is the realization of the moral and spiritual values that belong
to the nation and a symbol of the combination of unity with political
will.
(263)
The
high spiritual dynamics which belong to the nation have become whole in
the state. The natural catastrophes which hit the Türkmens in the last
few centuries occurred because such high and spiritual values had not
come together. To serve the state is to strengthen the internal dynamics
that belong to the nation. Serving the state guarantees the present and
future of the whole nation.
(263)
The
nation-state is the historical method of realizing the essence of the
national outlook. By means of a nation-state the values belonging to a
nation are integrated. Such integration regulates national life
historically and gives it direction. Establishing a nation-state is the
expression of a nation’s respect for its history and its trust in the
future. A nation state cannot be like a tree which has been brought from
a different country and climate and re-planted and which does not
flourish but dies because it is unable to adapt to the new climate. On
the contrary, it must be born and bred in the soil of this land, rooted
deeply in it, and stretching up into its sky. It is certain that
imitation does not yield positive results in any field, and the dangers
of imitation for the interests, benefit and the future of the people and
nation are of an enormous scale and dimension.
(264)
I
want to emphasize seven elements which can damage the progress of the
state:
First
element: unqualified officials
Second
element: the spread of tribal and sectarian consciousness
Third
element: disagreements between people and tribes
Fourth
element: religious and sectarian conflicts
Fifth
element: disagreements with neighbouring countries
Sixth
element: domestic turmoil
Seventh
element: the effects of natural catastrophes.
(270)
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