We join in welcoming Ambassador Venczel to the Permanent Council, and want to thank him and his Mission for their fine reporting on the situation in Turkmenistan.

We encourage the Center to continue its good work across the range of OSCE interests, and we support its work in developing civic participation through NGO activities.

We support the rapid agreement and signature of an MOU between ODIHR and the Government of Turkmenistan, which has been under discussion for quite some time.

We share the Mission's disappointment that the OSCE and other international organizations were not permitted to attend the trial of Mr. Nurmamedov and his son.

We have been told by the Delegation of Turkmenistan that we focus undue attention on a number of individual cases, and that the OSCE should focus instead on the work Turkmenistan is doing to build a society based on laws and democratic principles.

We want to stress that it is the intent of our Government to work with the OSCE to engage and assist the Government of Turkmenistan in building a democratic state based on accepted international norms and standards.

However, it is also our duty to raise concerns whenever any government of an OSCE participating State takes actions contrary to the shared norms and principles of our organization.

A "society based on laws and principles" is a matter of practice and not just theory. It is precisely through individual cases like Mr.Nurmamedov's that we, unfortunately, can observe the yawning gap between OSCE standards on the one hand, and Turkmenistan's implementation of those standards on the other.

We call once again upon the Government of Turkmenistan to implement fully its OSCE commitments and to respect the rights of its citizens.

The continued lack of free and transparent elections, the potential placing of the presidency beyond the election process, and concerns over judicial due process in the Nurmamedov and other cases, are all issues of legitimate concern and should be raised in this forum.

We believe the visit by Secretary General Kubiš in February and his meetings with President Niyazov and Foreign Minister Shikhmuradov underlined the OSCE's interest in an active, constructive relationship with Turkmenistan.

Finally, we hope that the British-led team traveling to Ashgabat in March to discuss the regional water management initiative will find support for this important project.