Lavrov: New SCO Centres to Open in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan

On July 15, a regular meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Member States took place in Tianjin, under the Chinese chairmanship. The meeting was attended by Nurlan Yermekbayev, SCO Secretary General, Maxim Ryzhenkov, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Belarus, Murat Nurtleu, deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Jeenbek Kulubaev, Foreign Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic, Sergei Lavrov, Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Sirojiddin Mukhriddin, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Tajikistan, and other heads of foreign affairs agencies of the SCO countries.

During the meeting, the parties exchanged views on the priority areas of cooperation between the SCO Member States in the new environment, as well as on relevant international and regional issues.

They paid special attention to preparations for the upcoming meeting of the Council of Heads of the SCO Member States, which will take place this fall in Tianjin. The drafts of the Tianjin Declaration, the leaders' statements, as well as other decisions and documents were adopted as basis.

At the end of the event, the attendees answered press questions. In particular, Sergei Lavrov, Foreign Minister of Russia, spoke about the agreements reached on opening new SCO centres in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The Organization for Combating Organized Crime will be opened in Bishkek, the SCO Anti-Drug Centre will be founded in Dushanbe, and a multi-purpose centre for combating challenges and threats will be established in Tashkent, at the premises of the regional anti-terrorist centre.

As you may recall, the CSTO and SCO signed a Memorandum of Understanding in October 2007. On its basis, the two organizations maintain regular contacts and joint work is carried out on ensuring regional and international security and stability, countering terrorism, combating illicit drug trafficking and trafficking in weapons, countering organized transnational crime and in other areas of mutual interest.