New NATO Liaison Officer visits Tajikistan and Turkmenistan
As part of her introductory trip around Central Asia, Rosaria Puglisi visited the Tajik and Turkmen capitals for talks about existing activities between NATO and the country and opportunities to expand cooperation in 2016.
NATO’s Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme Information Day took place on 9 and 10 December in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Organised jointly by NATO and the Academy of State Governance and the foreign ministry, the event provided a platform to discuss the further development of collaboration in science and research. Border management and counter-terrorism topped the list of issues discussed during the conference, which was attended by academics and practitioners alike.
“SPS is an excellent example of the pragmatic cooperation that NATO can offer to Central Asian countries,” said the NATO Liaison Officer for Central Asia. In meetings with representatives of the foreign and defence ministries, she took the opportunity to assess the current state of activities and explore future possible initiatives under the country’s Individual Partnership and Cooperation Programme with NATO.
In Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, from 13 to 15 January, Puglisi discussed potential areas of cooperation with NATO with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Batyr Niyazliev and representatives of the Ministry of Defence. While remaining committed to its neutral status, Turkmenistan has hosted in the past a number of NATO public diplomacy events and is interested in broadening the range of cooperation, in particular between NATO and the Academy of Sciences, the Institute of International Relations under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the International University for Humanities and Development.