Steppe Eagle 2017 drills wrap up in Kazakhstan

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - The closing ceremony of the 2017 Steppe Eagle international peacekeeping exercise led by Minister of Defense of Kazakhstan Saken Zhasuzakov has been held today at the Ile military training complex, Kazinform has learnt from the ministry's press service. 

In attendance at the ceremony were participants of the drills, including heads of military and diplomatic corps, NATO military experts and observers from the Armed forces of the United States, the UK, the Republic of Turkey, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.



At the ceremony, Minister Zhasuzakov stressed that Head of State Nursultan Nazarbayev in his address to the UN Security Council had noted that Kazakhstan is committed to further improvement of the UN peacekeeping system and wants to increase the number of its military observers and peacekeepers at the UN peacekeeping missions.



"In this light, we will continue our peacekeeping training in which the Steppe Eagle exercise plays a pivotal role," said Zhasuzakov addressing the participants of the drills.

He also added that the Steppe Eagle exercise has become an important tool for strengthening cooperation between the participating countries.
Foreign participants of the exercise commended organizers for great organization as well as praised the level of preparedness of the Kazakhstan Peacekeeping Battalion (KAZBAT).

As a reminder, the Steppe Eagle exercise was held in 2003 for the first time ever. Since 2012 the drills have been conducted within the framework of the Partnership for the sake of peace project and involved a wider range of participants.