Kazakhstan Backs U.S. in Struggle with Islamic State

WASHINGTON – Kazakhstan supports the United States in the struggle against Islamic State, the Central Asian nation’s foreign minister said Wednesday in Washington, where he also took the opportunity to urge a “peaceful solution” to the crisis in Ukraine.

Erlan Idrissov addressed those issues, among others, in a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

“Terrorism is a global phenomenon. The so-called Islamic State is a very ugly face of that unfortunate illness,” Kazakhstan’s top diplomat told Efe after his discussion with Kerry.

“The IS,” Idrissov stressed, “has become an international issue. Consequently, we welcome and we support the international community’s efforts to battle against the so-called Islamic State.”

Asked whether Washington has requested Kazakh military support for U.S.-led operations against IS in Syria and Iraq, Idrissov said: “The United States has made a universal appeal to all members of the international community to participate.”

“We have our way of addressing that matter, especially via cooperation between our respective agencies. That is very important,” the foreign minister said, without offering any details.

“Terrorism doesn’t recognize borders. It has become a global threat. Therefore, joining forces is a very wise and indispensable way of confronting that challenge,” he said, insisting that IS “does not deserve the name of Islam, because Islam is a very peaceful religion.”

Speaking to reporters before the meeting at the State Department, Kerry hailed the “growing security partnership” between the United States and Kazakhstan.

“We are working on the challenge of ISIL (Washington’s term for Islamic State), of counterterrorism,” the secretary said.

The two officials also discussed the conflict in Ukraine, a dispute that “makes life in Eurasia very complicated,” Idrissov told Efe.

“Kazakhstan is very unhappy with the fact that this crisis has still not been resolved,” he said, though adding that he was optimistic about a possible solution.

More than 4,300 combatants and civilians have been killed since ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine rose up in April against the new government in Kiev, while hundreds of thousands of people have been forced from their homes.

“We expect a compromise and a peaceful solution to the crisis in Ukraine to be reached through dialogue among the parties,” the foreign minister said.

He reiterated Kazakh opposition to the sanctions the United States and the European Union have imposed on Russia over Ukraine.

Kazakhstan, a close ally of Moscow, “does not support the sanctions, because we believe they are not producing a result,” Idrissov said.

“We understand,” he said, “that sanctions can be used sometimes in an extreme situation as a last resort. But in this situation, the sanctions don’t help anyone. They don’t help Europe, they don’t help Russia, they don’t help Ukraine. The crisis continues there.”

“We encourage the United States, Europe, Russia and Ukraine to find a solution,” the Kazakh foreign minister said.

Idrissov and Kerry also talked about the situation in Afghanistan, where Astana is supporting the security forces, as well as nuclear proliferation, Iran’s nuclear program and the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.

The minister’s agenda in Washington includes securing U.S. backing for energy-rich Kazakhstan’s bid to join the World Trade Organization.

“This is a very important point in our bilateral dialogue,” Idrissov said. “The U.S. supports Kazakhstan’s accession, but this matter is technically very complex. I hope that Kazakhstan enters the WTO sooner rather than later.”

President Barack Obama’s administration is “working hard on Kazakhstan’s accession to the WTO,” Kerry said at the State Department.