Regional seminar in Turkmenistan addresses best practices in combating financing of terrorism

On  17-18 September, 2018, representatives from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan participated in an OSCE-supported two-day regional seminar “Combating financing of terrorism: best practices within the OSCE region” which was held in Ashgabat.

The seminar organized by the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat aimed to share international standards and best practices in the area of combating the financing of terrorism. The participants also discussed further strengthening of international and interagency cooperation between relevant state authorities.

National experts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan presented their countries’ experiences in combating the financing of terrorism and the financing of foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs), highlighting the importance of the relevant legislative framework and of conducting national risk assessments. They also shared best practices in interagency interaction in the detection of the financing of terrorism and FTFs and stressed the role of international cooperation in the detection of transboundary financial flows.

“The OSCE calls on its participating States to apply a coordinated approach to combating terrorism at all levels while promoting interagency and interstate co-operation as well as interaction with relevant international and regional organizations,” said Natalya Drozd, Head of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat.

“As regional cooperation is particularly important to efficiently combat financing of terrorism and extremism, we initiated this workshop to promote interaction among Central Asian states in countering this serious challenge to security,” Drozd noted.

The seminar was facilitated by an international expert from Lithuania who elaborated on the assessment of risks related to financing of terrorism and other methods of detection and suppression of terrorist financing channels. The expert also touched upon the distribution schemes to finance terrorism and FTFs and best practices in the detection of transboundary financial flows. The seminar also addressed analytical methods to detect suspicious transactions and funding sources in the area of the financing of FTFs.

During the practical exercises, participants worked in groups to review cases related to the investigation of terrorist financing cases by financial and criminal intelligence units.