DUSHANBE, June 5, 2015, Asia-Plus -- A meeting of interior ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member nations is taking place in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, today.   

According to the Tajik Interior Ministry press center, Interior Ministers of Tajikistan (Ramazon Rahimzoda), Kazakhstan (Kulmukhanbet Kasymov), Kyrgyzstan (Melis Turganbayev), Russia (Vladimir Kolokoltsev) as well as Deputy Interior Minister of Uzbekistan Bahodur Kurbanov and Minister of Public Security of China Guo Shengkun are participating in the meeting.

Besides, SCO Secretary-General Dmitry Mezentsev, Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, Afghan Interior Minister Nour ul-Haq Ulumi and Turkish Deputy Interior Minister Namik Demir are attending the meeting.

The meeting participants are discussing issues related to coordination of activities of the SCO law enforcement agencies in combating transnational crime and trafficking in weapons and drugs.

The SCO interior ministers are expected to be received by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, a source in the Tajik government told Asia-Plus in an interview.

Founded by the leaders of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan on June 15, 2001, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an intergovernmental organization.  Except for Uzbekistan, the other countries had been members of the Shanghai Five; after the inclusion of Uzbekistan in 2001, the members renamed the organization.

The Organization currently has six full members -- China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.  Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan are five observer states, and SCO’s dialogue partners include Belarus, Sri Lanka and Turkey.

The Organization’s six full members account for 60% of the land mass of Eurasia and its population is a quarter of the world''s population.  With observer states included, its affiliates account for about half of the world''s population.