Terrorism remains one of the most serious crimes against humanity, which call for a full concerted response from the international community at the global, regional and national levels. Kazakhstan contributes to the fight against terrorism in several significant ways:
Firstly, by initiating a non-binding political Declaration entitled “Code of conduct towards a world free of terrorism”, which was adopted in September 2018. To date, 89 Member States have acceded to the Code and are committed to implementing the United Nations Global Counter-terrorism Strategy (UNGCTS) and other legally binding instruments.
Secondly, we are implementing the GCTS in Central Asia - the first such systematic regional action on a global scale.
Thirdly, we are addressing Paragraph 3 of the Code, which states that besides deploying holistic counter-terrorism measures, there should be systematic steps to prevent threats, and especially those posed by foreign terrorist fighters returning or relocating from conflict zones, to their countries of origin or nationality.
Kazakhstan, therefore, launched bold humanitarian operations, called “Zhusan” and “Rusafa”, with the aim of repatriating Kazakh citizens from the conflict zones in Syria and Iraq, respectively. These projects were successful in returning 607 Kazakh citizens to the homeland, including 37 men, 157 women and 413 children, of whom 33 orphans. Kazakhstan remains fully committed in countering and preventing terrorism and stands ready to work with the international community over priority the repatriation and rehabilitation of citizens trapped in conflict zones.
To support global measures to prevent abuse of the Internet by terrorists, Kazakhstan is combating covert methods utilized by criminals and terrorists, such as the dark web and encryption, by developing its own national system, entitled Cyber Shield of Kazakhstan.
The threat of terrorism and violent extremism extends beyond national borders and needs effective joint action. Kazakhstan is committed to a long-term comprehensive approach, cooperating at all levels with Member States, global and regional structures and civil society.