Uzbekistan and Türkiye sign Interior Ministry memorandum

Uzbekistan and Türkiye have signed a Memorandum of Understanding between their Ministries of Internal Affairs on regulating migration processes, facilitating the return of citizens to their home countries, and implementing coordinated measures in this area. The Uzbekistan Ministry of Internal Affairs reported this.

According to the statement, an Uzbek delegation paid a working visit to the Republic of Türkiye to further strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. The delegation, led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan, included heads of the country’s law enforcement agencies.

As part of the visit, the Uzbek delegation was received by President of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In addition, a meeting was held within the framework of the “4+4” mechanism with the participation of the foreign, interior, and defense ministers of Uzbekistan and Türkiye, as well as the heads of their security services.

In line with the agenda, the sides discussed the most pressing issues in bilateral relations, regional matters, and global processes, as well as effective ways to enhance cooperation aimed at ensuring sustainable development and prosperity based on strong security.

Within the framework of the visit, a bilateral meeting was held between Uzbekistan’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Lieutenant General Aziz Toshpulatov, and Türkiye’s Minister of Interior, Ali Yerlikaya.

During the meeting, the parties comprehensively reviewed the current state of cooperation between the interior ministries, its practical outcomes, and priority areas for future collaboration.

The sides emphasized that cooperation has significantly intensified in combating transnational crime, ensuring public security, establishing prompt and effective information exchange, addressing migration issues, and introducing advanced practices and modern methods. They also noted the establishment of systematic cooperation in enhancing professional capacity, retraining, and advanced training of interior ministry personnel.

As one of the priority areas of cooperation, the parties held in-depth discussions on combating cybercrime. They stressed the importance of taking effective measures against digital threats, using advanced technologies to detect cybercrimes, organizing specialized training courses in digital forensics, and maintaining regular exchanges of experience in this field.

At the same time, issues related to strengthening cooperation in combating internationally significant crimes such as terrorism and extremism, illegal migration, human trafficking, and illicit drug trafficking were also at the center of discussions.

Particular attention was given to establishing cooperation between the newly created Criminology Research Institute under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Uzbekistan and research centers operating under the Ministry of Interior and the Gendarmerie of Türkiye.

Prospects were outlined for conducting joint scientific research, exchanging analytical materials, and organizing scientific and practical conferences in this area.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding on regulating migration processes, facilitating the return of citizens to their home countries, and implementing coordinated measures in this sphere.

As part of the visit program, the delegation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Uzbekistan familiarized itself in detail with the activities of Türkiye’s law enforcement institutions.

At the Gendarmerie General Command’s Monitoring Center, the delegation reviewed modern systems for ensuring public security, rapid response to emergencies, monitoring, and management.

At the National Police Academy, Türkiye’s experience in personnel training, organizing scientific research, and introducing innovative approaches to educational processes was studied in detail.

The delegation also visited the General Directorate of Special Operations of the Police, where the physical and tactical training of special units, the use of modern equipment and technologies, and the practice of conducting special operations were demonstrated.

It is worth noting that earlier it was reported that a delegation consisting of Uzbekistan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Bakhtiyor Saidov, Minister of Internal Affairs Aziz Toshpulatov, Minister of Defense Shuhrat Kholmukhamedov, and Head of the State Security Service Bahodir Kurbanov had been received by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara.