The report says the forum on 10 October 2025 was initiated by the Geneva Center for Neutrality and organised together with the Permanent Mission of Turkmenistan to the UN and the Greater Caspian Association. More than 300 diplomats, academics, politicians, experts and civil society representatives took part.
The day ran in three sessions: neutrality in the modern world; neutrality, business and strategic assets; and neutrality and AI. The report covers the first one in detail.
Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, opened the forum. She recalled UN General Assembly Resolution 71/275, which set 12 December as the International Day of Neutrality on Turkmenistan’s initiative.
Our President, Murat Seitnepesov, noted in his opening remarks that only three countries are officially recognised as neutral: Switzerland since the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Austria after the Second World War and Turkmenistan since 1995. He tied the Greater Caspian Region to the topic of the forum through this record.
This year, we will celebrate the anniversary of Turkmenistan neutrality, and that’s why our region is very much relevant to the Swiss neutrality, and to the topic of today’s forumMurat Seitnepesov, President of the Greater Caspian Association
The report also lists ideas from other speakers. Nicolas Ramseier proposed a “neutrality label” for data stored in Switzerland. Vepa Hajiyev set out two proposals by Turkmenistan’s president for the General Assembly: a dedicated agenda item and a resolution on the role of neutrality. The session was moderated by Jean-Marc Rickli.
Read the full report on the Geneva Center for Neutrality website.