DISINFO: There are NATO military facilities in Kazakhstan
SUMMARY
Western strategists are interested in creating a conflict zone on the border with China, and Kazakhstan is openly considered as one of these hotspots. In October 2023, US Ambassador Daniel Rosenblum opened a NATO centre for peacekeeping operations in Kazakhstan. [...]
Kazakhstan is Russia's closest ally in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). Projects like these (which is in fact, establishing US military facilities on Kazakh territory) contradict Kazakhstan's international commitments within the CSTO and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
RESPONSE
This is a mix of several pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about the US allegedly conspiring to destabilise other countries as well as encircling Russia to advance its geopolitical goals.
It wasn't a NATO or US military facility that was opened but a conference hall within the Kazakhstan Peacekeeping Operations Centre of the Kazakhstan Ministry of Defense. This Centre is primarily focused on training Kazakh military personnel for peacekeeping operations worldwide and is not directly affiliated with NATO.
To address common security challenges, the United States is working with the Central Asian states to counter terrorism, support regional stability, and enhance border security in the region and beyond through bilateral military partnership programmes.
Kazakhstan has been part of NATO's Operational Capabilities Concept programme, which assesses the readiness of peacekeeping forces, but it's not an overt NATO affiliation. Kazakhstan is neither de facto nor de jure a member of NATO.
Kazakhstan's cooperation with NATO began shortly after declaring independence in 1992 when the country became a member of the North Atlantic Cooperation Council. In May 1994, Kazakhstan signed a framework document with the alliance for cooperation under the "Partnership for Peace" programme. In the following years, Kazakhstan became involved in various cooperation structures and programmes.
Finally, NATO is a defensive political and military alliance. The primary aim of the alliance is to maintain peace and safeguard the freedom, sovereignty and territorial integrity of its member states.
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