OREANDA-NEWS. June 26, 2009. The international conference on cross-border cooperation between Turkmenistan and the neighbouring countries was held in the conference hall of the President Hotel in Ashgabat to mark the coming International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

The forum organized by the State Coordinating Committee on Drugs under the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan and the State Service on Drugs together with the mission of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Turkmenistan brought together the participants from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan , Russia, Turkmenistan and Turkey. Among the guests were the representatives of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), European Union BOMCA-CADAP Programme, the World Customs Organization (WCO), OSCE, the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Centre (CARICC), ECO, Interpol, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Turkmenistan was represented by the officials of the law enforcement agencies, ministries and departments and the heads of the diplomatic missions accredited to Turkmenistan, the large international organisations and journalists.

President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov addressed the welcoming statement to participants of the international conference on cross-border cooperation between Turkmenistan and the neighbouring countries. The President noted that threatening security of the whole mankind and having become a global disaster illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs could be addressed effectively only through concerted efforts.

Highly appreciating the significance of the international conference held in Turkmenistan as another evidence of the high confidence and respect of the United Nations to the neutral status of Turkmenistan and its peace loving foreign policy strategy the Turkmen leader expressed belief in that the fruitful work of the conference would promote developing and taking the effective measures to combat drug trafficking that would enable to successfully fulfill the tasks set to the United Nations.

On behalf of the forum participants Ercan Saka, UNODC Project Coordinator in Turkmenistan expressed deep gratitude to President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov for an active support of the activities and initiatives aimed at expanding cooperation to counteract drug trafficking and enhancing cross-border partnership, in particular.

As is known, the issues of cooperation between law enforcement agencies, relevant departments and agencies of the neighbouring countries is the focus of several international forums hosted by the Turkmen capital. In recent years this problem has become a danger to all humanity and created the need to take immediate measures and concert global efforts at the national, regional and international levels.

The conference participants noted that playing host to such meetings Turkmenistan considerably contributed to developing the well-coordinated activities and exchanging experiences to achieve the greater effectiveness of the work aimed at counteracting organized crime and illicit drug trafficking.

The reports stressed that meeting the commitments undertaken to wage an uncompromising struggle against drug abuse and illicit trafficking Turkmenistan closely cooperated with the partner countries and authoritative international organisations and actively contributed to the activities under the international projects and programmes.

On the initiative of the Turkmen leader the State Service on Drugs was established and the National Programme to control illicit drug trafficking and assist drug addicts was adopted and successfully implemented in the country. The law enforcement agencies, health care and educational institutions, public organisations, members of the Galkynysh National Movement and journalists were involved in the educational and drug prevention campaign launched throughout the country. The adoption of the Law “On Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism” evidenced that Turkmenistan made a worthy contribution to global efforts to address this urgent problem of the modern world.

The forum participants highly appreciated the Turkmen leader’s foreign policy initiatives including the opening of the UN Centre for Preventive Diplomacy in Central Asia in Ashgabat in 2007 that provided assistance to the governments in the region in addressing threats and challenges of the modern world. In 2007 Turkmenistan joined four UNODC programmes. Closely collaborating with United Nations Turkmenistan hosted a number of the international forums involving the law enforcement officers and experts in the framework of the Paris Pact Initiative and the Caspian Sea Initiative.

Focusing on the paramount importance to further joint work the conference participants put emphasis on the need to search for the optimal solutions to urgent issues, build potential of cooperation to solve problems mankind faced nowadays and concert global efforts to address challenges of the modern world.