BISHKEK. April 1 (Interfax) - Kyrgyzstan has invited OSCE to open a center for Afghan studies in Bishkek to help combat growing security threats in Central Asia.
"We suggest setting up a center for Afghan studies on the basis of the OSCE Academy functioning in Bishkek, and we believe that the establishment of such a center will help not only countries of the region, but all countries belonging to OSCE, to receive reliable and qualified information," Foreign Minister of Kyrgyzstan Erlan Abdyldayev told journalists on Thursday.
In his opinion, the establishment of such a center "will be an important initiative in combating growing security threats in Central Asia."
"The greatest threats to the security of countries in the region come from Afghanistan today. They are terrorism, extremism, and the illicit turnover of arms. All these threats in one way or other, are related to Afghanistan, and primarily to the situation in the north of the country," the minister added.
Abdyldayev said that at the talks with German Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, he discussed the entire set of issues related to bilateral and multilateral cooperation and also questions of regional stability and security.
In turn, the German foreign minister told journalists that he sees a potential in cooperation with Central Asian countries, Kyrgyzstan in particular, for preventing the spread of Islamism.
"Today, I had an opportunity to talk with deputies of all parliamentary factions and was surprised how openly debates are conducted there. And this openness, transparency, are conditions for preventing the aspirations of extremism, fundamentalism and Islamization," he felt.
The German minister visited Bishkek as part of his Central Asian tour. On Thursday, he held talks with his Kyrgyz counterpart and members of parliament, and was received by the president of Kyrgyzstan.