AKIPRESS.COM - 19 officials from the Defense Ministry of Turkmenistan concluded a five-day training course on reciprocal inspection procedures under the Vienna Document, a key politically-binding document focusing on confidence- and security-building measures in the military sphere. The OSCE Center in Ashgabat organized the course to facilitate the exchange of best practices to fulfill commitments contained within the 2011 Vienna Document.

Experts from the National Agency for Control and Inspection of the Defense Ministry of Belarus shared experiences in implementing international commitments in the area of arms control and presented the main provisions of the Vienna Document.

Discussions focused on annual exchanges of information and preliminary notification about certain military activities, as well as preparations for and the conduct of evaluation visits to military sites and airbases and defense planning. The agenda of the training course included a practical exercise for conducting an evaluation visit to a military unit.

“The training course was designed to provide defense officials from Turkmenistan with the updated knowledge and skills necessary for planning, conducting and reporting on inspections,” said Ivo Petrov, Head of the OSCE Center in Ashgabat.