Extremist and terrorist groups existing in Kazakhstan are self-financing, according Kanat Lakbayev, chief of Department ‘A’ at the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) of Kazakhstan.

On Thursday, during a round table discussion on the work of the police in Kazakhstan, Mr. Lakbayev stated:  “At the initial stage — penetrating into and becoming established in Kazakhstan — these organizations were mainly financed from abroad. There are a number of countries that overtly or covertly provide this funding. Recently they have begun to move towards a mechanism, so to speak, that is self-financing and self-sustaining.”

According Mr. Lakbayev, extremist and terrorist organizations have begun to actively get involved in criminal activities, dividing turf with gangs into order to gain financing and to continue their underground activities.

“This is a very alarming symptom, because all on their own organized crime, extremism, and terrorism are dangerous phenomena. But when they begin to intertwine, it is certainly a rather explosive mixture,” he said,

According to Mr. Lakbayev, there are hundreds of persons in prison in Kazakhstan who have been convicted of extremism and terrorism, and the spread of this destructive ideology is faster in prison than on the outside. In prison representatives of terrorist organizations organize cells and begin competing with the traditional criminal element.

“They have built a very skilful system for recruiting new members and keeping their ideology consistent. They use a wide range of techniques, and take advantage of social and economic problems that exist in any country,” he continued.

According to the Interior Ministry, nearly 80% of persons prosecuted for extremism and terrorism are 19 to 28 years old.

“This is a group whose lives and principles are not completely formed and whom, to put it simply, are easy to fool. We often wonder how the extremist ideology seizes people’s minds so quickly. Someone would seem to be a normal person, but a year or two later and he’s almost unrecognizable. If you search the media for those who have been killed in recent excesses, even their relatives and parents did not notice the developments, just how that they quickly changed and became pious adherents to extremist ideology,” he added.

According to Mr. Lakbayev, the first representatives of extremist movements began arriving in Kazakhstan 10 to 15 years ago in order to test the waters and acquire a platform for further progress in the north, especially in Russia.

“Back then, of course, no one knew anything about them, and here we can confess that the law enforcement agencies back then probably missed it. At the time neither the science nor the law enforcement practices were ready to give a clear conception of this threat and develop organizations to counter it,” he said.

Then the carriers of extremism hid under the guise of traditional religion and began introducing ideas in people’s minds on a mass basis.

“Now we are in a period of them trying out their strength. Recent attacks and other acts are links in the chain, a logical development of the extremist ideology,” stated Mr. Lakbayev.

“The system (counter-extremism) now works, and here and there we are learning from our mistakes. At the same time, however, the system has one big disadvantage: it only responds to terrorist attacks. With regards to warning and prevention at different levels, with the help of government agencies and public institutions, here, of course, the situation is not good and we need to build this system,” he said.

According to the representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in contrast to the (counter-extremism) system, new members must be recruited from government and the public in order to build an adequate psychological counterbalance to these threats.

“We see two main directions in this work. The first concerns methods to psychologically influence leaders of extremist and terrorist organizations and their active members. The second is also preventive, and called neuro-linguistic programming. This allows one to create not just a negative psychological anchor in people’s minds like the extremists do, but to create a positive anchor,” said the representative of the Ministry of Interior.

According to authorities, (the extremists have) specially trained persons with a command of psychological techniques involved in recruiting extremists and terrorists.

Mr. Lakbayev spoke of the (extremist) scheme of separating people from society: “If we talk about our country, the mosques and madrassas have always been a source of support. Most people turn to God and religion when problems occur, when they are having a bad time in life. In these institutions the (extremist) recruiters work with people, talk to them, and give them attention. In some cases, perhaps, they provide them with financial assistance. They make it clear to them that they are not alone in their misfortune and that there are people who can help him. Once the people reach out, they (the recruiters) start presenting their ideology. They talk about corruption, unemployment, and poor living conditions, and explain that this is all due to bad government. Then they provide examples of an Arab caliphate.”

Mr. Lakbayev also gave data from psychologists, according to which 40-60% of people are easily susceptible to external influence.

“The end result (of recruitment) is in the camps on the Afghan-Pakistan border, where they are trained and participate (in fighting) as mercenaries, gunmen, and suicide bombers,” concluded Mr. Lakbayev.

In News mail.ru
http://news.mail.ru/inworld/kazakhstan/society/10546957/?frommail=1

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