VIENNA (Sputnik) — The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) should block attempts to use the fight against Daesh as a pretext for meddling in regional and geopolitical issues, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Special Representative on Anti-Terrorism Nikolay Kovalev said Thursday.
"I consider it especially important to block any attempts, no matter where they come from, to use Daesh in regional or geopolitical games," Kovalev said at meeting of the OSCE PA Standing Committee.
The OSCE PA is holding its 15th Winter Meeting between February 25-26. The meeting was expected to focus on the refugee crisis in Europe and the collective response to terrorism, as well as the war in Syria.
These factors include "combating international terrorism used as a pretext for achieving short-term internal and external political objectives, applying so-called 'double standards' in combating international terrorism, dividing terrorists into bad and good ones," Kovalev said.
The OSCE PA will remain the most important organization in the international counter-terrorism effort, he added.
Daesh is a militant jihadist group which took over large areas of Syria and Iraq several years after the start of the Syrian conflict. It is outlawed in many countries, including the United States and Russia.
OSCE is the world’s largest regional security organization made up of 57 countries. The Parliamentary Assembly serves to connect the parliaments of OSCE member states.
