During the meeting the Head of State was presented a report on the activities and future plans of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Civil Society.
The President of Kazakhstan, noting the situation in the religious sphere, emphasized the role of the Ministry and the tasks assigned to it.
- We have not had such a ministry before. It is necessary to continue to build the work with religious communities, non-governmental sector and youth organizations, Nursultan Nazarbayev said.
The Head of State emphasized separately on the state's policy towards religion and religious organizations, as well as on measures to combat religious extremism.
- There are all the conditions for all religious communities’ activity in our country; freedom of religion is guaranteed. We need to stay calm in this area. At the same time we should deal with the issue of religious extremism and review the legislation. Ministry has a lot of work to do, the President of Kazakhstan said.
N.Yermekbayev informed the President about the stability in the area supervised by him, noting that at present there more than 3,600 religious organizations operating in the country of 18 denominations. According to the Minister, most religious communities are Islamic.
N.Yermekbayev has also told the Kazakh leader on the Ministry’s work on forming the Kazakh model of interaction between the state and religious associations with preservation of inter-ethnic and inter-religious peace and harmony.
At the end of the meeting the Head of State has given a number of specific instructions.
