Monument of Neutrality, initially named as the Arch of Neutrality, started with the gaining an international status of permanent neutrality by Turkmenistan on 12 December 1995. Thus the 50-th session of the UN General Assembly declared Turkmenistan a neutral state, conducting a policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of other states and non-involvement in any military armed conflict.
Since that Turkmenistan began to celebrate 12 December as Day of Neutrality and the same year an idea of construction of the monument in honor of this event was born. In 1996, by decree of Saparmurat Niyazov, the Turkish company “Polimer” launched the construction of the Arch of Neutrality. And as early as December 12, 1998 a ceremonial opening of the 75-m Arch of Neutrality took place in the very center of Ashgabat where it stood up to 2010. In 2010, it was decided to move the arch to the southern part of the city. Over the next two years the arch was reinstalled and moved to the modern highway – Bitarap Turkmenistan Avenue. The Arch of Neutrality was renamed as Monument of Neutrality and its height became 95 m or 2 m higher than the famous Statue of Liberty in the United States.
