DUSHANBE, December 14, Asia-Plus A two-day international conference on preventing conflicts in Central Asia entitled “Regional Cooperation in Fighting Terrorism, Extremism, Drug Trafficking and Crime” is opening in Dushanbe today.  

According to information from the Tajik MFA, the conference is expected to bring together foreign ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.  Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Nikolai Bardyuzha and Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Jan Deguan as well as Regional Resident of the UN Office for Drugs and Crime Prevention (UNODCP) in Central Asia James Callahan and UN representatives are also scheduled to attend the conference in Dushanbe.

Igor Sattarov, a spokesman for the Tajik MFA, has told Asia-Plus that the conference is staged by the UN Department for Political Matters, the OSCE and the UN Forum of Experts on Conflict-Prevention and Peace-Building with support of the Tajik Government.  The conference is held behind closed doors.