CENTRAL ASIA 4.11 The OSCE Centre in Ashgabat Background In accordance with its mandate, the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat assists the Host Country in implementing OSCE principles and commitments and promotes the Host Country' s cooperation with the OSCE. In 2010, police and law enforcement related activities were dealt with by two international and three national staff members. The Centre was able to further enhance its co-operation with the Ministry of Interior and the Police Academy under the Ministry of Interior of Turkmenistan. Capacity-building Activities In 2010, the Centre embarked on drafting an article-by-article commentary on the Criminal Procedure Code of Turkmenistan which was expected to be finalized at the beginning of 2011. In summer, the Centre facilitated a three-day study visit of five representatives of Turkmenistan' s MoI and the Police Academy to Lithuania to exchange information and best practices in police education and curriculum development. The participants were briefed on the Lithuanian Police structure, recruitment principles, police training institutions and international co-operation programmes during a visit to the Interior Ministry' s Police Department. The delegation also visited the Department' s forensic sciences centre. In Trakai, the delegation got acquainted with the Lithuanian Police School staff and curriculum. The study tour also included a visit to the Mykolas Romeris University in Kaunas, where the participants were familiarized with the basic police training programme of Lithuania and visited a crime scene simulation classroom. The study visit was jointly organized by the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat, the SPMU and the Government of Lithuania. As a follow-up to the above-mentioned study trip, the Centre, in close co-operation with the SPMU, organized a two-day round table aimed at familiarizing representatives of Turkmenistan with best practices and lessons learned in the field of police training in other OSCE participating States. During the event, held at the beginning of October, about 20 officials from the MoI and the Police Academy of Turkmenistan discussed different models of police education (including curriculum development and development of basic, specialized and in-service training) and of selecting and recruiting police staff. They also learned about OSCE police education assistance programmes in other OSCE participating States. International experts representing the Czech Republic, Hungary, Turkey and Ukraine as well as two OSCE Police Advisers were invited to share their expertise with their counterparts from Turkmenistan. On 20-22 July, the Centre facilitated the participation of two representatives from the Supreme Court and the General Prosecutor’s Office in a regional OSCE/UNODC workshop on international co-operation in criminal matters, organized by the SPMU in Astana. On 16-17 September, the Centre facilitated the participation of two government officials from the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Defence of Turkmenistan in the “OSCE Meeting on Combating illicit SALW trafficking in Central Asia”, held in Almaty, Kazakhstan. 83