News and press releases

ASHGABAT, 18 April 2017 – An OSCE-organized training course on enhancing the professional skills of press officers of Turkmenistan’s state institutions opened today in Ashgabat...

CHAPAEVO, Kazakhstan, 17 April 2017 – The first in a series of five OSCE-supported three-day training seminars on national and international mechanisms of human rights protection started today in the village of Chapaevo, West Kazakhstan Region, Kazakhstan.

ANKARA, 17 April 2017 – The 16 April constitutional referendum in Turkey was contested on an unlevel playing field, and the two sides in the campaign did not have equal opportunities, the international observers concluded in a statement released today. While the technical aspects of the process were well administered, voters were not provided with impartial information about key aspects of the reform, and limitations on fundamental freedoms had a negative effect, the statement says.

The SMM observed more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region, though fewer explosions, compared with the previous reporting period. It observed fewer ceasefire violations in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission followed up on reports of a civilian casualty in Pikuzy and damage to houses from gunfire in Sentianivka. The SMM monitored the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, but its access there and elsewhere remained restricted.* The Mission observed ceasefire violations assessed as inside the disengagement area near Zolote. It observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line, in Luhansk city and Kalinina. The SMM followed up on reports that an explosion had damaged railway tracks near Orikhove. The Mission visited two border areas currently not controlled by the Government. It monitored the continuation of protests outside some branches of a bank in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Odessa. The SMM continued to monitor the situation in Balakliia (Kharkiv region) following last month’s fire at an ammunition depot.

The SMM observed more ceasefire violations both in Donetsk and Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM monitored the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, but its access there and elsewhere remained restricted.

An OSCE-supported three-day training seminar for police officers in psychological profiling techniques used when policing large-scale events concluded in Karaganda, Kazakhstan on 14 April 2017.

An OSCE-supported training seminar on the judicial application of environmental legislation in civil cases took place today in Astana on 14 April 2017.