On Tuesday, a three-day international competition featuring 10 sniffer dogs from different countries, organized to develop national and international cooperation for combating smuggling, kicked off in the Turkish capital Ankara.
Dubbed the "International Championship of Drugs Searching Dogs," the event organized under the auspices of the Trade Ministry is being held at Ankara's Akyurt Dog Training Center. It will span three days, consisting of four stages.
Participating countries include Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Uzbekistan and the host country, Türkiye.
In his speech at the opening, Bekir Can Uslu, the general manager of Customs Enforcement at the Ministry of Trade, emphasized the general directorate's ongoing efforts in combating smuggling in collaboration with other law enforcement agencies throughout the country.
Uslu highlighted that the Dog Training Center trains local and foreign dog breeds in various fields such as narcotics, explosives-weapons-ammunition, tea-tobacco, humans, cash and security, focusing on advancing technology in dog training.
Providing information on the number of detector dogs and puppies in his interview with Anadolu Agency (AA), Uslu opined that international communication and cooperation are essential in maintaining an effective fight against smuggling.
"We carry out many projects jointly with our stakeholders, including participating countries and international organizations that we host as observers, in the fields of training detector dogs and developing training techniques," Uslu said, adding that they believe in strengthening relations by exchanging mutual experiences and the knowledge among the participants.
The competition's first stage, the "Box Search Stage," commenced after the opening speech. Türkiye's representative in the competition is a specially raised dog named "Nobel."
The following days will feature the "Vehicle Search Stage" and "Room Search Stage," with the final stage being the "Obedience Stage," scheduled for the last day. The team with the highest points accumulated across all locations will be declared the winner, receiving trophies and special prizes.
