At the end of September, a regional training course on risk assessment and indicators within the Counter-Terrorism Early Warning Network for Central Asia was held in Termez, Uzbekistan, bringing together leading specialists and scholars of the region. A delegation from Turkmenistan also participated in the event.

The meeting was organized by the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia and the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, aiming to expand cooperation between government agencies and international organizations on countering terrorism and extremism.

President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov at various high-level meetings, including the Consultative Meetings of the Heads of Central Asian States, when characterizing the situation in the Eurasian space, repeatedly noted among existing challenges and threats to the region the importance of proactive measures to identify attempts to infiltrate extremist and radical elements into Central Asia, as well as the terrorist threat.

The Termez training thus clearly fit into organizing a unified approach by the countries of the region to counter extremism and to unite preventive diplomatic measures aimed at solving common problems.

Upon the return of our delegation from Termez, a correspondent from "Golden Age" met with Orazmuhamet Annabayev, a leading researcher at the Scientific Center for Strategic Studies of the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, who was one of the participants of the meeting, and asked him several questions.

– Orazmuhamet Amanovich, could you start by telling us a few words about the meeting itself?

– I must say right away that the venue was chosen deliberately. This is not the first training of this kind held in Termez, where meetings on the most urgent issues of combating extremism and terrorism take place. All countries of the region, without exception, are interested in holding such events, and this is understandable. Specialists who constantly study these issues are interested in maintaining peace and stability in our region, and for this it is necessary to clearly identify existing threats and, most importantly, to take concrete preventive measures together to avert all kinds of challenges and threats related to such phenomena as international extremism. The Termez meeting was no exception in this regard.

– What, in your opinion, distinguished this recent meeting?

– If we talk about the agenda of the meeting, it raised such an urgent issue as the consolidation of common capabilities in the field of cybersecurity. Given the growing role of Internet space usage in illegal activities, especially attempts to use it in ways that could destabilize the situation anywhere, everyone was interested in the possibilities of timely prevention of such actions. In this regard, exchanging experiences with colleagues and scholars from other countries proved very useful. Digital security was also a focal point of the participants' attention.

– The importance of the issues considered in Termez caused little doubt among anyone. What has been done and is being done by Turkmenistan in this regard?

– First of all, it should be noted that legislative and legal measures have been adopted in our country to prevent at an early stage any attempts related to extremist and terrorist threats and challenges. Work in this direction started in the very first years of the country's independence. At the interstate level, measures were taken to maintain stability on the borders. This was facilitated by legal agreements on the demarcation and delimitation of common borders with neighboring countries. At the legislative level, in 2003, the law "On Combating Terrorism" was adopted; in 2015, two very important legislative acts were passed at once – the law "On Countering Extremism" and the law "On Combating the Legalization of Criminal Proceeds and the Financing of Terrorism."

It should also be mentioned that Turkmenistan actively cooperates with the relevant UN structures and organizations in the development and implementation of the national strategy for preventing violent extremism and countering terrorism. This is evidenced, in particular, by the active participation of our specialists in events organized by UN bodies on these issues.

– Orazmuhamet Amanovich, thank you for your answers.