OSCE consulting Turkmenistan and Afghanistan in border security
By 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.
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