168 Afghan women police candidates being trained in Turkey's Sivas

SİVAS

Some 168 Afghan women cadets are currently being trained in the Police Vocational Education Center in Central Anatolian province of Sivas as part of a memorandum signed between Turkey and Afghanistan regarding the training and capacity enhancement of the Afghan National Police.

The training program, which started on Nov. 1, 2018, covers a period of six months.

Afghan police cadets have been receiving training in Sivas since 2011 as part of the cooperating agreement between the two countries. So far, 3,353 Afghan cadets, including 1,212 women, have completed their training.

Apart from their trainings, Afghan women cadets area also having a chance to establish close relations with Turkish women police officers who are training them.

Many experts have been giving hands-on training to the cadets on subjects such as law enforcement, modules of Afghanistan’s Constitution, human rights, fight with corruption and terrorism, bombs and explosive substances, domestic abuse, first aid, crime scene investigation and collecting evidences.

“We regard Afghan people as old friends, we are aware that they need us right now. We are working for the establishment of peace and security in Afghanistan as soon as possible, by conveying our knowledge, skills and experience to them,” Fatih İnal, vice president of Turkish National Police Academy, told state-run Anadolu Agency on Jan 23.

İnal also stressed that police candidates who completed the program have been quite successful in the field as well.

“Turkey is one of the leading countries working for peace and stability in Afghanistan,” said Kadir Yırtar, the director of Police Vocational Educational Center in Sivas.

Turkey and Afghanistan had signed the Memorandum of Understanding on the Training and Capacity Enhancement of the Afghan National Police on March 5, 2011 in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul.

In accordance with the memorandum of understanding, 500 mid-ranking Afghan National cadets are given six-month-long basic training in Sivas every year.

With this memorandum, Turkey’s main objective is capacity building, along with bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan, supporting security, reconstruction, development and regional cooperation.