On June 13, 2017, in Ashgabat, under the chairmanship of His Excellency Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, a meeting of the "High-level Dialogue of Central Asia-UN" was held on the implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in Central Asia. Dialogue was organized by the United Nations in cooperation with the Government of Turkmenistan.
The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan, the Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the ambassadors of the Central Asian countries accredited in Ashgabat, the Ambassador of Afghanistan to Turkmenistan, the head of the European Union Office in Turkmenistan, employees of UN agencies and representative offices participated in the work of the dialogue.
The purpose of this meeting was to review the implementation of the Joint Action Plan (SAP) in Central Asia, which was the first of its kind in the implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (A/RES/60/288) at the regional level. The meeting also identified further strategic priorities for the implementation of the SAP.
After the main report of the Secretary General, the heads of delegations of each of the five Central Asian states presented reports on the challenges their countries face in the area of combating terrorism and preventing violent extremism. Their speeches focused on the support provided by the United Nations to the countries of Central Asia in the implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (A / RES / 60/288) and the Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism. This included the discussion of the first and second phases of the joint UNFC-CCCACT project "Towards the Implementation of the Joint Action Plan for the Implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy", as well as the elements of the third phase of this joint initiative.
The high-level dialogue provided a clear picture of the emerging terrorist threats and challenges affecting a diverse region of Central Asia, and also noted the successful contribution of the SAP to the fight against terrorism in the region.
As a result of the Central Asia-UN High-level Dialogue, the Ashgabat Declaration was adopted.
