Ashgabat, 26 June 2009 – United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Turkmenistan held a three day International Conference on “Cross-border cooperation between Turkmenistan and its neighboring countries” in Ashgabat. The event was organized with the support of the Government of Turkmenistan specifically the State Drug Control Coordination Commission (SDCC) and the State Drug Control Service (SDCS) of Turkmenistan with participation of more than 70 senior level law enforcement officials from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation, Uzbekistan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Turkmenistan and Turkey besides the distinguished representatives of diplomatic missions located in Ashgabat. International organizations including UNRCCA, WCO, INTERPOL, OSCE, CSTO, CARICC, European House, TIKA, UNEP, UNHCR and WHO have also attended the conference. 

During opening ceremony the Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Hydyr Saparliev delivered a welcome address by the President of Turkmenistan to the participants of the conference. In his address the President appreciated UNODC’s initiatives in providing assistance in fight against narcotics spread in the region and expressed confidence that a productive work of the conference will stimulate development and adoption of effective measures to fight illegal drug trafficking. 

In his welcome remarks Mr. Ercan Saka, UNODC’s International project coordinator underscored the UNODC role as a facilitator and promoter of the cross-border cooperation within its overall strategy in Central Asia. He said that UNODC implements a number of projects to assist the Governments in the region and appreciated the Government of Turkmenistan’s continued support in this important field.  

The conference discussed wide range of issues related to cross border cooperation including its international legal basis and shared national, international and operational initiatives and experience. There was a separate session a with round table discussion on needs for the enhanced operational cross-border cooperation with proposed recommendations. 

The conference has coincided with the national program on International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Drug Trafficking (26 June 2009) and during the third day of the conference participants have been invited to witness a drug destruction event arranged by the Government of Turkmenistan. 

UNODC has a long history of cooperating with Turkmenistan on many projects. Cross border cooperation is one of the important components of its activity. In particular the UNODC Paris pact and its Rainbow strategy includes cross border cooperation among Central Asia and Caspian Sea regions.