«IT ALL STARTS FROM THE EAST»
It is early morning. At the Bayankol outpost, border days, going on as usual, are interrupted by an unexpected visit of a high delegation headed by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. Making a trip to the Narynkol district of the Almaty region, the Head of State decided to visit the border guards and carefully familiarize himself with the official activities, life and everyday life of the personnel.
This memorable historical event took place on August 9, 1992. And nine days later, Nursultan Nazarbayev, perfectly aware that the state border is an integral part of sovereignty and independence, signed one of the main and first documents - the Decree of August 18, 1992 «On the formation of the Border Troops of the Republic of Kazakhstan.»
The creation of its own Border Troops was important, especially in the series of numerous changes that the country was going through at that time. Indeed, before starting its new independent path, Kazakhstan needed a solid foundation of acquired sovereignty and state identity.
The beginning of the 90s of the last century was not characterized by calmness and instability of external borders, but time dictated the transition to an independent life, and much had to start, which is called “from scratch”. Although it is worth noting here that the formation of the Border Guard Service did not begin from scratch.
The main base for its creation was the formations and parts of the Red Banner Eastern Border District of the KGB of the USSR, the legal successors of which was Kazakhstan.
In the difficult time of our country’s gaining sovereignty, the protection of the state border had to be built in a new way in order to prevent the seizure of the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Here one cannot but recall the “footage of the protected area”. If in the era of the Soviet Union, formations and parts of the Eastern Border District guarded 1,718 kilometers of the Kazakh-Chinese border, then over time, the border guards increased their «zone of influence» to 15 thousand kilometers. There were added areas bordering Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and the Russian Federation, not to mention the maritime border in the Caspian Sea.
All these new frontiers were previously indicated only on the maps of the administrative-territorial division of the USSR and remained not only open for travel and passage, but were also not marked on the ground. Considering that in world practice, the legally designated territory and state border are the main necessary features of the state, the delimitation and demarcation of the border of Kazakhstan were strategic measures aimed at defining and consolidating the territory and spatial limits of the country’s sovereignty.
There was no time to think.
They had to act quickly and as efficiently as possible, remembering the wise phrase: «to discuss geography means to discuss a future war».
It was the foreign policy that Nursultan Abishevich Nazarbayev built, his decisions and negotiations with the leaders of states in the process of delimitation and demarcation largely ensured the inviolability and security of the sacred borders today.
Of course, the border is not just a geometric outline, but a living organism. Having been here once, you will feel its «breath», movement and a special atmosphere, where warriors in green caps represent the country, people and law...
And only after assessing the modern peaceful and calm border, protected by the norms of international law, one wonders - what was it like three decades ago? And then the understanding comes: the algorithm of the modern frontier was born then - back in 1992.
The primary tasks of that time were, firstly, the creation of a regulatory framework for essentially new border formations. And on January 13, 1992, at the 9th session of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan, this issue was finally resolved. The Laws «On the State Border of the Republic of Kazakhstan» and «On the Border Troops of the Republic of Kazakhstan» were adopted, which established the legal basis for the protection of the national and territorial interests of the Republic on the state border.
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During the formation of the Service, the personnel issue was of no small importance. And here it is worth remembering that after the collapse of the Union, an intensive outflow of personnel began, the officers were leaving for their «national apartments.» This problem was solved through the external training of experienced warrant officers and contract soldiers, the early release of young lieutenants from the Military Institute of the KNB. In addition, reserve officers who graduated from the military departments of civilian universities were called on to this. Also, all Kazakh officers who served outside the Republic were recalled.
During the formation of the border department, the methods of organizing service and combat activities changed, previous stereotypes were broken, habits changed. This required using other levers in working with personnel, building it in a completely new way.
The border service needed engineers, signalmen, aviators, sailors. Not all of these specialists were trained in Kazakhstan, therefore, close cooperation in the field of military education with the CIS countries began, the result of which was the achievement of an agreement on the training of Kazakh specialists in the military educational institutions of Russia. Thus, only a few years later, highly qualified officers of various directions came to the troops.
The Republic’s security interests at the borders were also ensured thanks to the work of a number of councils, which included the leaders of the CIS Border Troops, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization of the EurAsEC. Agreements were signed on cooperation in the protection of the border with Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Turkmenistan, as well as with the Ministry of Defense of China.
In addition, the Law «On the State Border of the Republic of Kazakhstan» legislatively enshrined the participation of citizens in the protection of the borders of the state. And the slogan «The whole people guard the border» again became relevant.
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Created by the Decree of the President N.A. Nazarbayev dated August 18, 1992, the Border Service of the National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan has gone a glorious way. And it has included in the chronicle of the 30th anniversary of Independence a lot of bright events and significant deeds.
Suffice it to recall the mission of Kazakhstani border guards to maintain peace and security on the external borders of the CIS on the Tajik-Afghan border. For 8 years of existence of the consolidated unit, hundreds of soldiers in green caps have passed through it, at the cost of their lives lagging behind the area entrusted to them, for the sake of peace and stability in the region. In the difficult time of the formation of the country’s independence, the border guards did not allow the seizure of the territory of the Republic, ensured reliable protection of the state border, thereby strengthening the defense capability and security of the state.
Since the decision to protect the State Border along the entire perimeter of Kazakhstan, the department has deployed dozens of border detachments, deployed hundreds of units, including commandant’s offices, outposts and checkpoints.
A well-functioning border aviation infrastructure was created. The fleet of combat and transport aviation, automobile and road engineering equipment has been substantially renewed.
In order to improve the activities for the protection of the state border, including the protection of the biological resources of the Caspian Sea, the border department created a structural unit - the regional department of the Coast Guard with naval divisions, technical observation posts, built and commissioned dozens of modern ships and boats. As a result of the complex application of radar, ships and aircraft, the presence of foreign vessels engaged in illegal fishing in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian was reduced. Dozens of channels of illegal migration have been blocked…
It should be noted separately that since 2015, Border Service officers have been protecting the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
For thirty years of independence, the border service of the KNB has made a worthy contribution to the formation and development of the country. The measures taken in recent years on modernization and rebranding, reforming in the Border Service will allow the department in the next decade to more mobile and effectively respond to the challenges of the time, reliably guard the national interests of Kazakhstan.