Kazakh Interior Troops start patrolling Issik-Kul region of Kyrgyzstan

According to it, Almaty and Zhambul regional departments of internal affairs will delegate 10 patrol groups consisting of 20 officers to Kyrgyzstan to patrol the above part of the highway.

Two Kazakh and one Kyrgyz home affairs officer will be on duty in each patrol car, equipped with modern navigation and communication systems. They will be stationed on the road stretching from Kazakh border (Korday settlement) to Issik-Kul shore, - informs the press-release of Internal Affairs Ministry of RK. The document notes also, that the main task put before special units will be providing road security and rooting out bribery on the roads.

“Joint actions will allow to upgrade the level of traffic security, as well as protect not only Kyrgyz citizens, but also tourists from both Kazakhstan and other CIS countries from possible corruption”, - informs the press-release. It’s underlined, that in case if the joint patrolling turns out effective, such practice will be continued.

Ordinary people in Kyrgyzstan have already reacted to this news with angry comments and still unsuccessfully trying to reach on the telephone the ministry of internal affairs of Kyrgyzstan and regional authorities of Issik-Kul. One of deputy heads of regional administration, firmly opposing this idea, said on condition of anonymity: “…they are fully neglecting us. This proves only one thing – weakness and stupidity of our government. Many people in support of this idea are saying that “Kazakhs will protect us from bribers on the roads. What a shame!” – exclaims he.

In general, many of our citizens consider the patrolling of Kazakh traffic police in the territory of Kyrgyzstan as a brutal interference in the affairs of a sovereign state. “We are not a province of Kazakhstan. Shame on our Ministry of Internal Affairs! We are ready to tolerate this for some time, but if this will not stop soon – expect armed clashes.

Of course, many people see and understand that the officers of Kyzgyz Ministry of Internal Affairs are in general uneducated, short-sighted and scurvy, good for only eating, sleeping and bribing. That’s it…

But even in these circumstances the Kyrgyz society although understands the motivation of such a “ new measure” as inviting foreign police forces to its own territory, anyhow it has rather solid arguments against it saying that if things go like this, very soon it will the army’s turn to enter Kyrgyzstan and all the republic by default will go under the jurisdiction of the neighboring country. According to them, the government, to put it mildly, is implanted by very stupid people – one can hardly take it in.

The witnesses comment on what is happening on the road: “The main task put before special police units is providing traffic security and rooting out bribery on the roads. Yesterday on my way to Bishkek I saw our policeman extorting bribe from a Kazakh and 10 km later I saw a joint police post and later again only Kyrgyz police stood on the road. This Kazakh was stooped at the joint post too. To put a long story short, our police extorted and will extort bribes from Kazakhs”. If things go like this there’s no doubt that very soon the drivers will be divided into “ours” and “aliens”, “our traffic police” and “alien traffic police”. It’s not excluded that both sides will call armed units for backup. No need to have a rich imagination to imagine “Kazakh peacekeepers” rushing in from the territory of the neighboring country to help their traffic policemen who get under siege of angry Kyrgyz citizen. We know many cases when our citizens blocked highways or organized mass “raids” to the capital. It’s in Kyrgyzstan that army and police do not shoot at people, but in Kazakhstan as events in Bakay, Shanirak and other places have shown, they do not feel any mercy towards people, who can be shot and beaten down, or imprisoned for a few years as a prophylactic measure. In general, we have reasons to think over hasty actions of our government.

One of representatives of Issik-Kul administration said: “The issue of legality of Kazakh traffic police remains open, but I saw them together with ours”. At the same time another witness says quite opposite: “Yes, there’s a lot of them on the highway, I saw them yesterday. They are alone, not joined by our police. They sit in their cars with Kazakh number and are dressed differently. I passed by a couple of times and did not stop when they whistled. And by the way, is Kazakh traffic police legally empowered to stop cars in our territory, check documents and cars, apply some administrative punishment etc? If no, the arrangements between the ministers are illegal and we may neglect Kazakh traffic police”.

Ultimately, all witnesses share an opinion that patrolling of Kazakh traffic police in the territory of Kyrgyzstan is a brutal interference in the affairs of sovereign state. The common opinion is that “we are not a province of Kazakhstan – shame on our government!”

These declarations are substantially grounded and people are voicing it more vividly. “Very soon Nazarbaev will want to rule Kyrgyzstan for a couple of weeks!”. “Shame on Kyrgyz traffic police and government. Our neighbors no more trust us and will look after our own citizens. But this is a complete shame!”

Since the decision to deploy Kazakh police in the territory of Kyrgyzstan was taken jointly with Kazakhstan, it’s quite reasonable to give a chance to another party to voice its opinion on this issue. The following is what Kazakh people think about it: “This is as if Kazakhstan absorbs Kyrgyzstan – a state level raid. Our people are taking the most profitable sectors of Kyrgyz economy under their control. Our traffic police as usual was the first in this respect. Later on we will confiscate all casinos and rest areas and in a few years Kyrgyzstan will turn into one of regions of Kazakhstan. Go ahead! Queue up, gentlemen! Most importantly, first we have to take the roads under our control…Very smart!”. No comments…