Members of US Commission on International Religious Freedom visit Kazakhstan

April 23, House of the Mazhilis. Today, the Majilis was visited by a delegation of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (Independent Government Advisory Body to the US Congress).

The guests were represented by members of the Commission Thomas Reese, Clifford May, as well as representatives of the US Embassy in Kazakhstan.

The Kazakh side was represented by the chairman of the Chamber’s Committee on International Affairs, Defense, and Security Mukhtar Yerman, as well as deputies of the Mazhilis Arthur Platonov, Bakhtiyar Maken and the chairman of the Religious Affairs Committee of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Civil Society Yerkin Ongarbayev.

The key topic of the conversation was issues related to global and regional security. In this regard, the importance of the implementation, including legislative support, of the Joint Statement titled “Kazakhstan and the United States: Enhanced Strategic Partnership in the 21st Century”, adopted as a result of negotiations at the White House during the official visit of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N. Nazarbayev to the United States in January 2018.

Particular attention is paid to issues of interaction between the state and religion. In particular, to the draft law “On Amendments and Additions to Some Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Religious Activities and Religious Associations” being considered in the Majilis.