Kazakhstan President Admits For the First Time That Islam Is a Threat

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev Photo: AFP/GETTY

In a complete reversal from previous positions, the President of Kazakhstan has now admitted that his country is under a threat from Islam and has pointed out that his country needs to be more vigilant in monitoring Muslims throughout the country.

From the report at The Telegraph:

This year a suicide bomb and a number of unexplained shootouts have dented Kazakhstan’s reputation as a safe, stable business partner for foreign businesses looking to invest in energy-rich but volatile Central Asia.

Previously the Kazakh authorities have denied militant Islam is a threat but on Thursday, less than 24 hours after authorities in the oil producing west of the country said they had arrested 18 people for plotting terrorist acts, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev called for increased monitoring of Muslims converts, Muslims from other countries and mosques.

"Parliament has to consider adopting a law on religious activity," the news website zakon.kz quoted Mr Nazarbayev as saying during a session of parliament.

"We are not talking about banning the freedom of conscience. We are talking about protecting the state from religious extremism."

I have mentioned here many times how Islamic terrorism has touched every country on the globe and we see yet another country that has to come to that realization. Of course, this country will now be attacked by activists and bleeding hearts across the globe as "islamophobic" and they will probably cave in to the pressure ....at least until they have about 200 dead civilians on their hands from an islamic terror attack.

That's usually how it works - the finger pointers with their "islamophobe" accusations are there on the front lines when a country's leader like this takes a stand but when a terror attack actually happens and the streets are covered in body parts and blood, those finger pointers have all disappeared and cowered back into their dark alleys.

Kazakh President wants to monitor Muslims more closely after 18 arrested for terrorism


This year a suicide bomb and a number of unexplained shootouts have dented Kazakhstan’s reputation as a safe, stable business partner for foreign businesses looking to invest in energy-rich but volatile Central Asia.

Previously the Kazakh authorities have denied militant Islam is a threat but on Thursday, less than 24 hours after authorities in the oil producing west of the country said they had arrested 18 people for plotting terrorist acts, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev called for increased monitoring of Muslims converts, Muslims from other countries and mosques.

"Parliament has to consider adopting a law on religious activity," the news website zakon.kz quoted Mr Nazarbayev as saying during a session of parliament.

"We are not talking about banning the freedom of conscience. We are talking about protecting the state from religious extremism."

Around 70 percent of Kazakhstan's 16.5 million people are Muslims although most do not follow strict Islamic doctrine.

Neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have been fighting militant Islam for years but Kazakhstan, where energy companies from the West, China and Russia have invested billions of pounds since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, had appeared unaffected.

The security forces, though, have become increasingly concerned about the spread of radical Islam, especially in the west of the country which is more susceptible to extremist literature and recruitment drives from the North Caucasus where Russia has been fighting an Islamist insurgency for two decades.

And Mr Nazarbayev said in his comments to parliament on Thursday that he was particularly concerned about foreigners moving into the country to set up Mosques.

"Whoever wants may come here, whoever wants may open a mosque and name it after his father. But nobody knows what these mosques are really doing and no one has approved," he said.

"As a state, we should put our house in order."

In May a suicide bomber attacked a security services’ office in Aktobe in the west of the country. This was perhaps Kazakhstan’s first suicide bomb but although the authorities blamed militant Islamists for the attack they described it as an isolated incident and carefully avoided talk of terrorism.

The arrests this week changed that and although the authorities in Atyrau on the Caspian Sea avoided details they said that the 18 people arrested had been plotting terrorist attacks.

Courts in Kazakhstan have already blocked access to websites they say are used by militant Islamists for propaganda reasons.