Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Nov. 30
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
An OSCE-organized workshop for senior border officials from Turkmenistan and Afghanistan on inter-agency cooperation in border security and management took place in Ashgabat in November 2018, OSCE office in Ashgabat said in a message on Nov. 30.
An expert from the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre and international experts on international and interagency co-operation in border security and management assisted in conducting the workshop.
“Through this workshop the OSCE confirms the relevance and effectiveness of its activities in strengthening border security and developing various aspects of co-operation in the world and here in the region,” said Natalya Drozd, Head of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat.
“The OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation attach special importance to border security issues, in particular, to countering common challenges and threats, primarily international terrorism and extremism, drug trafficking, transnational organized crime and illegal migration,” she said.
The First Secretary of the Embassy of Afghanistan Mohammad Hassan Aman thanked the OSCE Centre for its ongoing work in the area of border security and management, and emphasized its contribution to promoting cooperation between Turkmenistan and Afghanistan.
Istvan Samu, an international expert from Hungary underscored that the partners involved need to have common goals and interests for the inter-agency co-operation to be effective and beneficial.
Shahriniso Najmetdinova–Scott, an independent Consultant on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism, elaborated on the different types of transnational threats, such as terrorism, and placed special attention to the phenomenon of harmful gender stereotypes.
Seppo Turkia, an international expert from Finland, acquainted the participants with the work of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX) and Finnish best practices in inter-agency cooperation.
Taras Seredyuk and Henadzi Aleksiayuk from the State Border Guard Committee of the Republic of Belarus also shared their practices and experiences on interagency co-operation.
The workshop was organized with financial support from the governments of Germany, Italy and Japan, and is the third in a series of joint Turkmen-Afghan workshops held this year within the Centre’s extra-budgetary project.
This project component will conclude with a three-day joint Turkmen-Afghan Workshop on fighting cross-border crimes and countering drugs, psychoactive substances and precursors scheduled for December 4-6, 2018 in Ashgabat.