POLICE-RELATED ACTIVITIES OF FIELD OPERATIONS central ASIA Activities Related to Threats Posed by Criminal Activity Counter-Terrorism & P/C VERLT On 3 and 4 April, the Centre, in co-operation with the TNTD, organized a two-day seminar on “Countering Violent Extremism and Radicalization that Lead to Terrorism (VERLT): a Comprehensive Approach”. The seminar, the first of its kind in Turkmenistan, served as a platform for a policy discussion on P/C VERLT in Turkmenistan. It also aimed to promote a better understanding of the current global and regional trends in VERLT. A particular emphasis was put on regional challenges related to terrorist radicalization. More than 40 participants, including representatives of Turkmen government agencies, the parliament, academic institutions, civil society, youth, the Office of the Ombudsperson and of international organizations, attended the seminar. Eleven international experts from Finland, the United Kingdom, Kyrgyzstan, the Netherlands, Norway, Tajikistan and the United States shared their expertise with the participants. They discussed inclusive and viable approaches, ranging from community policing and the development of national action plans to including gender perspectives and involving women and youth in P/C VERLT. A total of 41 people participated in the event. On 5 and 6 April, a two-day seminar was organized on countering the use of the internet for terrorist purposes in co-operation with TNTD/ATU. Twelve international experts from Germany, the United Kingdom, Kazakhstan, Poland, Portugal, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, the United States, ODIHR, the Anti-Terrorism Centre of the CIS and UNODC exchanged experiences on the current trends of modern communications technologies used for terrorist objectives. They shared good practices in promoting a comprehensive approach to preventing the use of the internet as a facilitator of terrorist and violent extremist activities and the role of the media in these processes. Some 30 participants, including representatives of the Parliament of Turkmenistan and the national institutions, addressed issues related to the international legal and human rights framework on countering the use of the internet for terrorist purposes. Topics included strategies for regulating the internet and combatting violent extremist content online; developing special investigative skills in computer forensics; and utilizing advanced methods to collect, document and retrieve relevant digital evidence stored on computers or mobile devices while upholding human rights and the rule of law. On 19 and 20 April, the Centre supported the participation of two government officials from the Administration of the President of Turkmenistan and Ministry of National Security in the Inter-Regional Conference on P/C VERLT, which was organized in Seoul by the MFA of the Republic of Korea in close co-operation with the TNTD. On 10 and 11 May, the Centre supported the participation of two government officials from Turkmenistan’s Presidential Administration and State Border Service, and facilitated the attendance of one civil society representative, at the OSCEwide Counter-terrorism Conference, “The Reverse Flow of Terrorist Fighters (FTFs): Challenges for the OSCE Area and Beyond”, held in Rome, Italy. From 14 to 18 May, the Centre facilitated the participation of two government officials from the General Prosecutor’s Office and State Border Service of Turkmenistan in the “Regional Workshop on Combatting Illicit Cross-Border Trafficking in Cultural Property for Central Asian participating States”, held in Tashkent and Samarkand, Uzbekistan. On 11 and 12 June, the Centre facilitated the participation of a representative from the Magtymguly Youth Organization of Turkmenistan in an international conference held under OSCE auspices on “The Role of Youth in Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism and Radicalization that Lead to Terrorism”, organized in Tashkent and Samarkand, Uzbekistan. On 28 and 29 June, the Centre supported and facilitated the participation of five representatives from law enforcement institutions of Turkmenistan in the “Regional Seminar on Countering the Use of the Internet for Terrorist Purposes”, aimed at judges, investigators, law enforcement officers and lawmakers from Central Asian participating States. The event was organized in Almaty, Kazakhstan by TNTD/ATU together with the OSCE Programme Office in Nur-Sultan. From 14 to 16 August, the TNTD/BSMU MTT delivered an interactive course on identifying FTFs for border and migration services officers from Turkmenistan. The deployment of the Training Team, the eighth of its kind, was organized by the TNTD/BSMU with support of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat and in close co-operation with the host country. Eighteen officers from border and migration services of Turkmenistan, including one female officer, were trained on regional and national legal frameworks, the effective use of INTERPOL databases, risk analysis and management in the identification of potential FTFs at borders in compliance with international human rights standards. The importance of risk analysis models applied to identify potential FTFs at the borders, as well 115