OSCE Centre holds roundtable discussion to assess needs for enhancing Turkmenistan’s border patrol capacities

ASHGABAT, 31 March 2016 – Ten high level-officers from the State Border Service of Turkmenistan took part in a roundtable meeting that took place today. The meeting was organized by the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat in co-operation with the State Border Service of Turkmenistan to assess the needs of the national border guards with the aim of enhancing their   border patrol capacities.

This roundtable discussion was designed to align the OSCE’s planned training curriculum on border patrol capacities in 2016 to the current needs of the State Border Service.

Experts from the OSCE Secretariat and OSCE Office in Tajikistan shared best practices in implementing similar projects in other OSCE participating States. The OSCE Centre in Ashgabat also invited experienced international trainers to assist in identifying the needs and further elaborating the patrol training curriculum.

“This roundtable offers an excellent platform for all involved parties to discuss future co-operation that will contribute to addressing the needs of the host Government in strengthening national border patrol capacities,” said Richard Wheeler, Officer-in-Charge of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat. “We are more than confident that providing technical and other support to the State Border Service of Turkmenistan serves our common goal to maintain regional security within the Central Asia region and beyond.”

Today’s discussion is a continuation of activities held as part of an OSCE extra-budgetary project on strengthening border guard capacities in Turkmenistan launched in 2014 and implemented with financial support from the governments of Germany, Luxembourg and the United States.