Kazakhstan Is Suffering From Growing Extremism, Nazarbayev Says

Kazakhstan is suffering from growing extremism, with the authorities struggling to stop such crimes, President Nursultan Nazarbayev said.

“Radical extremist elements are exerting severe pressure on the state and society as a whole,” Nazarbayev said today in the capital, Astana, according to his website. “People are angry at law enforcement’s inability to prevent these crimes.”

The president of the former Soviet Union’s biggest oil producer after Russia said he’s “unhappy” with the work of law-enforcement agencies, particularly the National Security Committee. There have been more than 100 crimes linked to terrorism and extremism since the start of 2011, causing the deaths of tens of civilians and law-enforcement officers, he said.

Kazakhstan is predominantly Muslim and borders Russia and China.

To contact the reporter on this story: Svetlana Antoncheva in Astana, Kazakhstan at santoncheva1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Hellmuth Tromm at htromm@bloomberg.net