Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The states of Central Asia have the necessary potential to jointly counter the spread of terrorism and extremism in the region. This point of view was expressed by the leading expert of the National Institute for Strategic Studies of the Kyrgyz Republic (NISI) Erlan Tologonov during the high-level international conference "Regional cooperation between the states of Central Asia in the framework of the Joint Action Plan for the implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy" in Tashkent.

Speaking about extremism and its extreme form - terrorism, the expert noted that this is not a local or even a regional problem, but a large-scale phenomenon. In this regard, issues related to preventing and countering terrorism and violent extremism are high on the international agenda.

Nevertheless, Erlan Tologonov expressed his conviction that the states of Central Asia have the necessary potential to jointly counter the spread of terrorism and violent extremism in our common region.

For this, in his opinion, it is necessary to take the following measures:

- build your theological base of well-trained specialists who could become leaders of religious communities and successfully compete with external influences;

- to improve preventive work with target groups, which involves increasing the level of knowledge and religious literacy of convicts, improving conditions for their socialization and self-realization, as well as systems for the rehabilitation and reintegration of persons released from places of detention and conditionally sentenced for committing terrorist and extremist crimes;

- to develop mechanisms for cooperation in the field of security within the framework of integration structures with an emphasis on joint counteraction to the increased challenges of terrorism and religious extremism;

- ensure security in the information sphere, develop a system to counter the spread of materials of extremist and terrorist content on the Internet;

- improve legislative mechanisms for countering terrorist and extremist activities, synchronize legislation with international documents on combating terrorism and UN Security Council resolutions.

In conclusion, the expert expressed confidence that the current Tashkent conference would help strengthen constructive dialogue and multifaceted interaction between the states of Central Asia, develop a unified approach to solving the problems of preventing and countering terrorism and extremism, in all its forms and manifestations.

The organizers of the conference are the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country, as well as the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) and the Organization for Security and cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

The event, held in a hybrid format (offline and online), was attended by about 600 high-ranking officials and leading experts from Central and South Asia, the EU, China, Russia, the USA, the Middle East, representatives of international and regional organizations and civil society institutions.