Kyrgyzstan to form professional army

In the near future Kyrgyzstan will start forming a professional army on the basis of its Armed Forces. Defence Minister of the Republic Esen Topoyev said about this on Friday in Bishkek.

According to the Minister, "the transition to a new structure is inevitable" for the country's Armed Forces.

In fact, the reform of the Kyrgyz army has already started. At present, contract servicemen make up 70 per cent of the personnel of the Main Directorate of the Frontier Service of the Republic, Topoyev noted. In the minister's opinion, officers and warrant officers will make up the bulk of the future professional army who amount to 30 per cent of the total number of Republic's servicemen.

It is expected that the structural reform of the army will be gradual and last about eight years. The transition to a professional army will help resolve numerous social problems. According to the minister, the Republic is facing the situation when the number of conscript servicemen exceeds the actual demand of the Army.