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Honourable Mr. Voronkov,
Excellencies,
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, colleagues!
I am grateful for the invitation to participate in today's event and the opportunity to address such a representative audience.
The threat of terrorism remains a critical issue for the world community. The recent barbaric terrorist attack in Moscow's Crocus City Hall, where the bloody trail was left by the adherents of ISIS (Daesh), its Central Asian branch ISIS-Khorasan, shows that it is too early for us to lower our guard.
In this regard, the idea of President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to establish the Regional Expert Council on the Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Returnees under the auspices of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism is highly relevant. ISIS in Iraq and Syria has been defeated and disarmed. Yet this inhumane ideology continues to find adherents. If we become complacent and take a hands-off approach, there is no guarantee that this flame will not flare up again.
The CICA Member States of Central Asia – Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan – have shown a responsible approach by repatriating a significant number of their citizens from the conflict zone. With such actions, the countries of the region have not only demonstrated exceptional leadership in the global community by taking responsibility for their citizens involved with ISIS and their families but also by showing the whole world that it is necessary to work with these people, rehabilitate and reintegrate them into normal life, otherwise the risk of relapse and their re-involvement in terrorist activities remains unacceptably high.
The countries of the region have already accumulated unique experience in working with returnees, and it is important to widely utilize this expertise. However, equally important is the coordination among states, their law enforcement and social agencies, and international organizations to use best practices, share information and avoid mistakes. Therefore, the establishment of the Regional Expert Council appears to be an important measure and a good decision.
We sincerely believe that consolidating the efforts of regional states, as well as international and regional organizations to strengthen security and adequately respond to the challenges and threats associated with returnees from war zones will create synergy and lead to significant results.
The Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia brings together 28 Member States and 9 Observer States. CICA attaches great importance to building joint efforts to counter the terrorist threat. The “Combating terrorism” priority area is a significant part of the “New challenges and threats” dimension of the CICA Catalogue of Confidence Building Measures, a unique document in the history of multilateral diplomacy.
CICA has established a network of partnerships and cooperation with various international organizations, including the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and its Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure. Last month, the CICA Member States approved a partnership with the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism.
Central Asia is, without exaggeration, the heart of CICA. A quick look at a map is enough to realize that the entire perimeter of the Central Asian region is surrounded exclusively by CICA Member States. Of the five Central Asian states, four are members of CICA and Turkmenistan holds observer status.
The Sixth CICA Summit, held in Astana on 12-13 October 2022, adopted an important document, the CICA Plan of Action on the Implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (GCTS). This Plan, following the 2011 Joint Plan of Action on the GCTS for Central Asia, has become the most comprehensive regional document of its kind in one of the world's most complex regions. The UN Office of Counter-Terrorism played a key role in the development and approval of the CICA Plan, to which we are deeply grateful for its invaluable assistance. I would like to personally thank Ambassador Vladimir Voronkov for participating in the CICA Senior Officials Committee meeting on 23 June 2021, where he stressed the importance of all countries joining efforts to combat terrorism and encouraged the CICA Member States to work together.
We stand ready to continue contributing to regional efforts in working with returnees and, more broadly, in the fight against terrorism. The issue of foreign terrorist fighters is prominent in the CICA Plan of Action on the GCTS. While our organization does not have a law enforcement component, the Member States have the opportunity (and actively use it) to share best practices and lessons learned in the implementation of confidence building measures.
In conclusion, I would like to thank the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, the Government of Uzbekistan and the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia for the excellent organization of this event. Dear colleagues, the CICA Secretariat is always open to contacts and cooperation with all of you.
Thank you for your attention.
14 May 2024, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
