Statement
by
Colonel General M.K. Altynbayev,
Minister of Defense of the Republic of Kazakhstan,
at the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council
in Defence Ministers session
Dear mister Chairman,
Dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,
I thank you for the opportunity to share with you my opinion.
Tragic events of September 11, 2001 in the United States of America have
once again demonstrated that international terrorism has no borders and
represents a threat to all the world community.
Republic of Kazakhstan confirmed its resolve to fight against terrorism
in all its facets. In his message to the U.S. President, Kazakhstan President
N. Nazarbayev stated: "We feel indignation about terrorist acts that
resulted in loss of numerous lives. AM civilized community must unite
and take effective measures to fight international terrorism. All the
Kazakhstan people sympathize with the American people in their grief and
mourn aver the tragedy".
We are sure that terrorists should be punished, so should be those who
were behind them. In this connection the Republic of Kazakhstan confirmed
its readiness to support with all forces and means available the measures
which are being taken by international community in the struggle against
terrorism.
NATO experts have considered the possibility of using our airfields by
Alliance while carrying out a counterterrorist operation. We will take
part in providing humanitarian assistance to Afgani people. At present,
there are some other practical issues under consideration.
Before tragic September days and particularly after them, almost all
states of the world pronounced for consolidation of efforts of international
community in the fight against international terrorism.
However, in our opinion, in order to have close and effective interoperability,
It is important to develop a maximally unified normative base acceptable
to the majority of states and univocally defining key definitions, first
of all, term "international terrorism". It is necessary to differentiate
the notion of terrorism as criminal phenomenon, which is traditionally
fought against by special services and law enforcement agencies, from
absolutely new threat - international terrorism.
International terrorism, as an expression of political ambitions with
large scale military actions, is particularly dangerous in both scale
of consequences and its ideological influence on specific ethnic, confessional
and other groups. Therefore, in order to fight international terrorism,
regular or special forces units of Armed Forces are employed more frequently.
This has already required that approaches to the military construction
should be changed, particularly in our state.
Since 1999, Kazakhstan has been facing this new threat to national security.
As you are aware, the events of the recent years in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekstan
have led to reconsideration of our point of view on construction of the
National Armed Forces. And the establishment of the Southern Military
District, which protects the boundaries of the State located in the immediate
vicinity of conflict centers has been an adequate reaction. The troops
of the District comprise special forces units that are prepared for actions
in mountain terrain and are being intensively trained in techniques of
fighting against,
terrorist groups.
There were organized Kazakhstani international cooperation in area of
the fight against international terrorism such as; CIS cooperation, the
Collective Security Treaty, Shanghai Organization of Cooperation. In Central
Asia Collective Forces of Rapid Deployment were created.
Kazakhstan considers participation in EAPC and PfP program as one of
priorities of cooperation aimed to integration into global security structures.
Kazakhstan took political decision about joining the Planing and Review
Process program (PARP) program which will allow us to increase the level
of relations with NATO.
During last three years, a number of our officers has taken part in PfP
activities, courses, seminars, symposiums, and conferences. Many of them
have received training in PfP centers in Turkey and now they apply acquired
knowledge in various spheres of military activity.
In spite of taking measures, the capabilities of Kazakhstan to counteract
the above mentioned threats due to the complexity of transition period
are limited, and we will welcome any initiative to provide concrete assistance
to our Armed Forces.
In conclusion, I would like to express hope that joint realization of
priority directions of cooperation between Kazakhstan and NATO will contribute
to the enhancement of the level of both regional and international security.
Availing myself of the occasion, I would like to congratulate all of
you on coming Christmas and New Year 2002 holidays.
Thank you for your attention.
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