ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan

On 13-17 March, Ashgabat, UNRCCA, in partnership with the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), organized a national training course for Turkmen officials titled “Countering Firearms Trafficking, Terrorism and Other Crimes: Tools for effective investigation and prosecution”.

The training course addressed detection, investigation and prosecutions challenges in the area of illicit arms trafficking. Based on the international experience, national operational needs in the field of terrorism and firearms control were formulated. The training course also contributed to strengthening knowledge and capacity of law enforcement to effectively recognize and address the links between terrorism, organized crime and trafficking in arms.

It was the fourth workshop conducted in Turkmenistan within the framework of the UNOCT and UNODC project “Addressing the terrorism-arms-crime nexus: Preventing and combatting the illicit trafficking of small-arms and light weapons (SALW) and their illicit supply to terrorists - Supporting the implementation of the Security Council Resolution 2370 (2017) and the Madrid Guiding Principles” and the UNRCCA and UNOCT project “Towards a Comprehensive Implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in Central Asia”.

23 representatives from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, State Customs Services, General Prosecutor’s Office, Supreme Court and other relevant agencies of Turkmenistan participated in the training course.