"The recent tragic events in Kyrgyzstan have persuaded all of us that the country needs a strong army," Ex-Minister of Defense of Kyrgyzstan Ismail Isakov stated Tuesday at a press conference, news agency "24.kg" reported.
According to him, during the clashes in the south of the country, the armed forces turned out not ready to resist several thousand strong crowds of people. "Militia also was fully demoralized. The officers of law enforcement bodies did not have any special means, except for pistols. But they even use these also: how could they shoot at peaceful population? The troops were catastrophically short of equipment, weapon. Out of available stocks, most units of weapon were stolen. If our army and law enforcement bodies were equipped with modern technology, special means, we would considerably be able to reduce human losses and not to admit such a scale of tragedy," Ismail Isakov considers.
As the Ex-Minister of Defense notes, it is necessary to cardinally reform all force structures. "As for the State National Security Service, then it should be divided into external and internal services. The Ministry of Defense should include the National Guard, frontier service, which may be renamed as boundary protection service. Since, in point of fact, these structures perform similar functions. They should have united infrastructure, material and technical base. In course of time we should abandon the concept "internal troops." Are we going to direct them against our people? I think it will be more correct if the military men of this structure will become militia men and will ensure law enforcement in the country," Ismail Isakov says.
According to him, it is also necessary to liquidate the Ministry of Emergency Situations. "There is no such a ministry in foreign countries at all. Its functions should be laid on local governments. And military men must help them," Ismail Isakov adds.