Kazbat is ready for peacemaking mission

The second stage of the international peacemaking exercises Steppe Eagle 2015 ended in Kazakhstan at the military training area ‘Ilysky.’ Special attention was paid to the training of the squadron Kazbat which is the main part of Kazakhstan’s peacemaking forces. Kazbat is training for participation in peacemaking missions in military conflict areas under management of the UN all over the world. Recently, President of the country Nursultan Nazarbayev has signed the relevant Law On Peacemaking Activity of the RK.

This year military personnel not only from Kazakhstan, but also from the US, the UK, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and Tajikistan are participating in the military exercises Steppe Eagle 2015. The Deputy Defense Minister, Major-General Talgat Mukhtarov, thinks that the training conditions and professionalism of Kazbat is at a high level. According to the Major-General Mukhtarov, “every officer of the peacemaking squadron speaks English and is ready to fulfill any mission under management of the UN.” Mukhtarov says that the new law will promote Kazakhstan in the international political arena and will enable the country to get valuable experience of cooperation with military and civic staff of other countries. Steppe Eagle is aimed at checking the readiness of Kazbat to fulfill tasks within a group of international forces under united management and conduct multifunctional operations for supporting peace.

However, Kazakh soldiers have already participated in peacemaking missions of the UN. A minor unit of mine pickers, about 300 soldiers, worked in Iraq. Since 2014, 20 Kazakh military observers are working in the UN mission in Western Sahara and Cote d'Ivoire. Moreover, blue helmets of Kazakhstan have participated in the Collective Peacemaking Forces of the CIS in Tajikistan, during the civil war there. They had to protect the border with Afghanistan, they suffered losses. According to Talgat Mukhtarov, Kazakhstan is situated in 106th place from 122 countries. The first places are taken by Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India.

Such a low activity of Kazakhstan in peacemaking missions in other countries is considered by experts to be a consequence of an absence of the law. “The status of military men hasn’t been defined yet, including social guarantees for participants of peacemaking actions beyond the territory of Kazakhstan. An order of making decisions on such participation hasn’t been defined either; mechanisms of forming the units have not been developed. The new law solves all these questions,” Alexander Knyazev, an expert on Central Asia and the Middle East, told Vestnik Kavkaza. According to him, Kazakhstan’s blue helmets can be used in case of an unstable situation in Central Asia. “I think the political and military authorities of Kazakhstan are concerned about the permanently unstable situation in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, where the authorities are persecuting the second most powerful party, the Party of Islamic Revival of Tajikistan (PIRT) and its leader Muhuddin Kabiri,” the expert says.

Muhuddin Kabiri told Vestnik Kavkaza that “putting pressure on PIRT does not support stability in the republic and leads to a growth of radical ideas in the country. A bigger number of young people who see no alternative will support the radical movement of Islamic State and other radicals. It is a sad result as it can revive the civil war of 1992-1997, as it hasn’t been forgotten. It will be a headache not only for Tajikistan, but also for neighboring countries,” Knyazev said.

Neighboring Kyrgyzstan is already shaking. The parliamentary elections should take place in autumn, according to an MP of Kyrgyzstan, Ravshan Dzheyenbekov. He doesn’t rule out that as a result of the elections there will be many dissatisfied people and the situation could get out of control. A revolutionary scenario of solving problems is typical for Kyrgyzstan. Destabilization of the situation in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan can undermine the whole Central-Asian region.

Alexander Knyazev says that participation of Kazakhstan’s peacemakers will be primarily needed in Central Asia, considering the interests of national security.