ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan —

On 21 June, Petko Draganov, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General and Head of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA), delivered a speech at the special drug burning action in Turkmenistan, marking International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, where over 200 kilograms of drugs were destroyed. The drug burning action was attended by the heads of the law enforcement agencies of Turkmenistan, representatives of international organizations, the diplomatic missions accredited to Turkmenistan, public associations and the mass media.

In his speech the SRSG emphasized that there is still room to broaden the scope for increased cross-border cooperation among the countries of the region with regard to the fight against drug trafficking and other forms of trans-national organized crime. He underlined that UNRCCA supports the proposal, announced during the high level event in Ashgabat in May 2015, of having annual senior level meetings within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding on Subregional Drug Control Cooperation signed by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the five Central Asian states in 1996.