DUSHANBE, June 3, 2013, Asia-Plus — A high-level roundtable discussion formally titled “Central Asia and Afghanistan: Interethnic Relations; Regional Security and Cooperation” took place in London on May 29-30, according to the Tajik MFA information department.
Organized by the Office of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities under support of the U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office, this two-day event reportedly brought together delegations of Central Asia’s nations and Afghanistan, led by deputy foreign ministers.
Deputy Foreign Minister, Nizomiddin Zohidov, and the head of the department for constitutional guarantee of human rights under President’s Executive Office, Muzaffar Ashourov, represented Tajikistan at that meeting.
UN Secretary-General”s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Jan Kubis, and UN Secretary-General’s Special Representatives for Central Asia Miroslav Jenca, who is also Head of the Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA), also participated in the discussion.
Representatives of Tajikistan reported on experience and achievements of Tajikistan in laying legal foundation for regulation of interethnic relations and protection of rights of ethnic minorities, the Tajik MFA information department said.
The discussion participants reportedly exchanged views on a role of trans-border ethnic communities in interethnic relations in the Central Asian nations and Afghanistan and outlined possible challenges that may occurred in this sphere after international forces withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
In this connection, they underlined the significance of an opportune response to the cases of aggravation of interethnic conflicts and development of appropriate strategies for settlement of such conflicts.
