POLICE-RELATED ACTIVITIES OF FIELD OPERATIONS central ASIA On 25 and 26 April, the Centre participated in the meeting of anti-trafficking focal points and the preparatory co-ordination meeting for the Russian-language simulation exercise. From 24 to 28 September, the Centre took part in a simulationbased training exercise on how to identify and rescue human trafficking victims held in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, and also facilitated the participation at this event of four representatives of civil society, the Bar Association of Ashgabat city, and the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan. The event was organized in the framework of a project of the ORS/CTHB on “Combating Human Trafficking along Migration Routes”. Participants included 54 Russian-speaking practitioners from 14 countries, who exchanged their experiences in addressing CTHB, focusing on how to enhance the regional co-operation and facilitation of better assistance for trafficking victims through a new, multi-national and cross-sectoral approach. On 28 and 29 November, the Centre facilitated the participation of a representative from the GPO in the “Workshop on the CTHB in Supply Chains through Government Practices and Measures”, organized and funded by the OSR/CTHB in Vienna and held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Cybercrime On 27 and 28 September, the Centre supported the participation of a representative of the Ministry of National Security in the International Cyber/ICT Security Conference, organized by the Italian OSCE Chairmanship in Rome, in close co-operation with the TNTD. On 9 and 10 October, the Centre facilitated the participation of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan in an international conference on “Preventing and Countering Terrorism in the Digital Age” in Minsk, Belarus. The Conference was organized by the Government of Belarus together with the TNTD/ATU. On 17 and 18 October, the Centre organized, in close cooperation with the TNTD/ATU, a two-day risk-assessment and crisis management exercise in Ashgabat. The event, which brought together 29 national experts from the energy sector and law enforcement institutions, focused on how to strengthen the protection and preparedness against terrorist attacks that are aimed at critical energy infrastructure. Participants tested the effectiveness of their existing protection and crisis management systems, including the co-ordination with external crisis management mechanisms, to mitigate the impact of a terrorist cyber-attack. The exercise was held as part of the OSCE’s efforts to advance the implementation of UNSCR 2341 on the protection of critical infrastructure from terrorist attacks. It was the eighth national exercise on enhancing the OSCE participating States’ capacities to mitigate terrorist attacks emanating from cyberspace on their critical energy infrastructure. The training was based on the OSCE Good Practices Guide on Non-Nuclear Critical Energy Infrastructure Protection from Terrorist Attacks Focusing on Threats Emanating from Cyberspace. Border Security and Management / Customs From 14 to 18 May, the Centre facilitated the participation of two government officials from the GPO and State Border Service of Turkmenistan in the “Regional Workshop on Combatting Illicit Cross-Border Trafficking in Cultural Property for Central Asian participating States”, organized in Tashkent and Samarkand, Uzbekistan. On 1 and 2 November, the Centre facilitated the participation of representatives of the State Border and Migration Service of Turkmenistan in the Second OSCE-wide “Seminar on Passenger Data Exchange” and the Sixth Thematic Meeting of the OSCE Border Security and Management National Focal Points Network convened in Vienna. The objective of the meeting was to provide the States that are not using passenger data and/or biometric technology with an opportunity to obtain information on the benefits of these systems and learn how to establish them in compliance with international standards while respecting data privacy. From 17 to 21 December, the Centre organized a fiveday practical training course on port control and security management procedures for 28 law enforcement and port officials at Turkmenbashi International Seaport on the Caspian Sea coast. Two international experts from the United States and the United Kingdom presented the concepts of maritime security and border and borderlands, layers of risk, and key examples of transnational threats at marine borders, such as drug trafficking, piracy and maritime terrorism. At the course, the participants discussed port security assessment and planning, emergency preparedness and security control administration. The training programme included a visit to the port facilities to observe passenger control procedures and registration of vessels. In the framework of the ExB project on “Strengthening Border Service Capacities in Turkmenistan”, the Centre organized: • Two basic and advanced patrolling courses, three basic and advanced alpine courses, one maritime training event, two medical training courses and one canine training event to operate in winter, mountainous and desert environment; • One border crossing facilitation training course on railway crossings and one border crossing facilitation training event on road crossings, four joint Afghan-Turkmen 117