Turkey to train Afghan female police cadets

By Serhat Zafer and Halife Yalcinkaya

SIVAS, Turkey

The 6th term of the Female Afghan National Police Training program held by the Sivas Police Vocational School began with a ceremony on Wednesday in Turkey's central province.

For four months, 243 Afghan female police cadets will receive police training including information on weapons, simulated shooting, and first aid training.

The training will also include search techniques, traffic policing, basic driving training, crime scene investigating and collecting evidence. Cadets will also learn to operate security systems and devices, write reports and master expression techniques. Juvenile delinquency, domestic violence and crimes against women will also be addressed.

Speaking at the ceremony, Turkish Deputy Interior Minister Mehmet Ersoy said: "Turkey's cooperation with Afghanistan will not only take place in police training but also in all other areas."

Ersoy added that Turkey will share its experiences on counterterrorism, combat against smuggling, drugs and foreign fighters.

The deputy interior minister of Afghanistan Aminullah Karim, also at the event, drew attention to the long-lasting relations between Turkey and Afghanistan.

"We are working on changing the police curriculum in Afghanistan and we take Turkey as an example," Karim said.

Following two cooperation agreements signed in 2011, Afghan police cadets began to receive training in Sivas.

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu previously said that 2,996 Afghan police and 4,300 military members had received training in Turkey.