Aigul Kuspan: During Its CSTO Presidency, Kazakhstan Will Address Topical Security Issues

Interview with Aigul Kuspan, Chairwoman of the Committee on International Affairs, Defence and Security of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan

– Ms Kuspan, on December 19 at the meeting of the Council and the 16th plenary session of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly in Moscow, seven model acts were adopted. Which of these documents are a priority for you?

– I will name one, perhaps, but all of them are very important. I would particularly like to single out the Collective Security Treaty Organization Model Law on the Prevention of Non-Medical Use of Drugs. This is a very important document. You know that drug addiction has become a real scourge: besides traditional drugs, there are synthetic drugs that can be produced in any city, in any kitchen. It is extremely difficult to track the production of synthetic drugs and fight their mass distribution. It is a problem on the scale of a natural disaster. A large number of young people become victims of this disaster overnight. That is why I believe that we have to be very active on this issue. And the Organization should deal with it, and we as deputies should develop recommendations and model legislative acts. We are discussing this problem in the Parliament of Kazakhstan.

– Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, has already outlined the priorities of Kazakhstan’s 2024 CSTO presidency. These include the CSTO’s security cooperation with interested countries and international organizations; promotion of cooperation in countering international terrorism and extremism; sterngthening the effectiveness of anti-drug trafficking efforts; building the CSTO’s peacekeeping capacity; and other important areas. Which of the priorities, in your opinion, is the most important?

– Cooperation between the CSTO and other international organizations operating in the security sphere is of great importance, as the President of Kazakhstan said in Minsk. We need to pool our efforts. We need to strengthen cooperation with the United Nations, with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, with the Commonwealth of Independent States through constant and close joint work. We need to sync our efforts as much as possible.

I am also very interested in such a priority of Kazakhstan’s CSTO presidency as peacekeeping capacity building. This is a noble mission, and all CSTO Member States are striving to be more active in peacekeeping. Kazakhstan, for example, has a Peacekeeping Operations Centre of the Ministry of Defence. Its main purpose is to host peacekeeping operations training according to UN standards. I plan to visit it in the near future. Our peacekeepers are already involved in a number of operations around the world. Of course, some CSTO countries are less involved, some more, but why should we not pool all available efforts? CSTO-wide agreements to this effect have already been ratified last year by all our parliaments.

In addition, military and scientific capacity building is of particular interest. Military science is a special science. The brightest minds of the Soviet Union used to work on it and write dissertations. However, after independence and the transition to a market economy, at least in Kazakhstan, less attention was paid to it. It seems to me that now we should concentrate more on it, taking into account new insights about the nature of wars, the methods of preparation for and waging wars, armed force development and equipment.

Another crucial area is the fight against international terrorism and extremism. The President of Kazakhstan spoke in Minsk about the need to prevent young people from our countries from travelling abroad to participate in various terrorist operations and work as mercenaries. We must protect our young people from this scourge. They do it for some kind of romantic reasons or for money. But there is nothing romantic about it! We must educate patriots of our countries.

– Kassym-Jomart Tokayev also named the emergency response cooperation development as a priority.

– Yes, Astana proposes to deepen cooperation on emergency response. Here, as our President emphasized, we need to focus on hands-on cooperation.

Another important priority is countering IT crimes. The Kazakhstani side will send these and other proposals to other Member States of the Organization in the nearest future. 

CSTO Parliamentary Assembly Press Service 

For reference. The CSTO Parliamentary Assembly Council will meet in Kazakhstan in 2024. CSTO parliamentarians have approved the session to be held in the first half of 2024. According to Yerlan Koshanov, Mazhilis Speaker, the exact dates and venue of the retreat session will be agreed with the CSTO PA in due course.