OSCE Centre launches border patrol training on Turkmen-Afghan border

ASHGABAT, 25 August 2014 – Twenty officers from the State Border Service of Turkmenistan will take part in a training course on border patrol which was launched at the Imamnazar border crossing point on the Turkmen-Afghan border today.

Two international trainers will deliver the 45-day course, which is organized as part of an OSCE extra-budgetary project on strengthening border guard capacities in Turkmenistan, which is funded by the governments of Luxembourg and the United States.

The course seeks to provide Patrol Leaders from the State Border Service with knowledge and skills at the instructor- and team leader-level in tactical patrolling. It is expected that eight officials of the Border Police of Afghanistan will join the training event in September to enhance their skills in detecting and interdicting illegal cross-border movements.

“This training course builds on a similar training conducted in 2009, and demonstrates a strong commitment by the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat and our Turkmenistan counterparts to further expand the successful co-operation developed in recent years in the field of securing borders within the OSCE region and beyond,” said Ambassador Ivo Petrov, Head of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat.

“We look forward to further supporting the State Border Service of Turkmenistan in enhancing its capabilities to protect national frontiers in line with international standards  as well as in developing trans-border security co-operation with neighbouring countries.”

The general patrol course, which will conclude in October 2014, will be followed by specialized patrol training courses which are planned to be held in spring 2015.

The project is being conducted as part of the OSCE Border Security and Management Concept (BSMC) as well as additional OSCE Ministerial Council Decisions regarding engagement with Afghanistan and addressing transnational threats. The project aims to strengthen the capacities of the State Border Service of Turkmenistan to patrol its state borders by the means of using innovative patrolling, surveillance and other border security methods and techniques.