Yertysbayev deems creation of Kazakhstan's anti-terrorist commission reasonable

Kazakhstan President’s Advisor Yermikhamet Yertysbayev believes that creation of an anti-terrorist commission to track potential terrorists would be reasonable in Kazakhstan, Megapolis writes. “Terrorism is such a specific thing that it requires creation of a special commission with a broad range of powers that will track potential terrorists. I believe it would be quite reasonable. CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) already has a common anti-terrorist center, initiated by our President by the way, why wouldn’t we apply the experience?” the President’s Advisor said. Yertysbayev also pointed out that Majilis deputy and former Interior Minister Kairbek Suleimenov who would likely be placed in charge of the new structure is very suitable for this job because of his professional qualities. “He has been dealing with strategic and detective activities since the Soviet Union, starting in 1970s. He has gone all the way up the career ladder in law-enforcement authorities: starting from investigator and finishing as Interior Minister in sovereign Kazakhstan. He used to be secretary of the Security Council, i.e. he has a huge experience. That’s why I think it will be reasonable, understandable and fair if the commission is formed and the Presidents selects him to head it,” the President’s Advisor said. Yertysbayev, however, does not think that the National Security Commission has failed its task to counter terrorism. “President criticized some aspect of the work of the National Security Commission, and he made it publicly. But the scope of work entrusted to the National Security Commission is too big, and emergence of internal terrorism in the country only added to the load. It is very difficult to make assessments there, because terrorists mainly originate from the prisons that are not under the Commission’s control: they are governed by the Interior Ministry. And recently the Penal System Commission was part of the Justice Ministry: we have performed various reforms under pressure from the West. As a result, control over the penal system was insufficient and it was tainted by a range of prison breaks and mass self-mutilations. Amid lack of control the prisoners were exposed to preaching of religious (Islamic) extremists. After they left the prisons, formed armed groups and procured weapons,” he noted. The President’s Advisor believes that “if the anti-terrorist commission is created, it has to deal with all these issues through a complex approach: perform all the required preventive work, have enough authority to access not only penal system but also to other sectors of public life”. “All Kazakhstan’s regions have to be closely checked, including unemployed young people exposed to propaganda of the religious extremists, etc.,” Yertysbayev added. Meanwhile, Russian experts suggest to consider the experience of their country that has the National Anti-Terrorist Commission. “Functionally the anti-terrorist commission can exist in two forms: it will either be only operative work (investigation) or it may have its own forces. In the second case certain anti-terrorist forces have to be also controlled by this commission. This model is already in place in Russia and it yields positive results,” coordinator of regional programs of the Oriental Studies Institute of Russian Science Academy Aleksander Knyazev said.