The team of students from the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan worthily represented our country at the XXIV F.F.Martens International Humanitarian Law Competition, which was held in Moscow from October 9 to 12.

The national team included Dovletgeldy Babakuliev, Kerven Mukhammetgeldiev and Serdar Rakhimov. The student team, led by senior lecturer of the Department of International Law and Comparative Law Durli Ballyeva, successfully passed the qualifying round, which was attended by competitors from dozens of higher educational institutions of the CIS countries. Among the participating countries are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

This year, more than 60 applications from various regions of the CIS countries were submitted for the competition. When determining the best teams in the qualifying round, the jury took into account the knowledge of international humanitarian law, public international law and the ability of the team to argue their statements.

So, according to the results of the qualifying round, the 23 student teams with the highest number of points received the right to participate in the XXIV F.F. Martens International Humanitarian Law Competition.

The competition is an event during which students gain skills in applying international humanitarian law in simulated situations close to real ones.

Thus, during the week, student teams performed various situational tasks proposed within the framework of the competition. The competent jury, in turn, assessed the knowledge of IHL norms and the ability to apply them in practice, the ability to substantiate their statements, defend their personal point of view and react correctly to the situation.

According to the results of the competition, the national team of the Higher School of Diplomacy of our country showed one of the best results. It should be noted it is not the first time that the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan takes part in this competition.

As reported on the official website of the IIR of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, the jury members were satisfied with the answers of the university students, for whom this competition has become an excellent platform for practice, a source of new professional experience, a great opportunity to test knowledge and skills.

The F.F. Martens IHL Competition is organized annually by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) among students of law faculties and higher educational institutions of the participating countries. The jury of the competition consists of leading experts, professors in the field of international humanitarian law, candidates and doctors of law from different countries. Over the years, the student competition has gained the status of one of the most prestigious and largest in the field of international humanitarian law.

The competition has been held since 1997 and is named after Fyodor Fyodorovich Martens, the author of the "Martens Clause", a Russian lawyer, diplomat and one of the founders of the Russian School of International Law, who formulated one of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.