Kyrgyzstan employs Tourist Police to tighten security of tourists

Following the steps of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan said it has decided to employ special police force to provide security for tourists who visit the nation.

Zamirbek Soltongeldiev, an official in Kyrgyzstan’s Interior Ministry, informed that the “tourist police” will be formed by the end of 2018.

“Positions in the new police unit will be available after structural changes within the police force. Preference will be given to candidates with knowledge of foreign languages,” Soltongeldiev said.

The announcement comes days after authorities in Tajikistan created a tourist police force in response to an attack on July 29 that killed four foreign cyclists.

Kyrgyzstan has also been the site of recent attacks by alleged Islamic extremists – including a 2016 car-bomb attack against the Chinese Embassy in Bishkek that injured three Kyrgyz.

Uzbekistan launched a tourist police force in December in a move described by the Uzbek authorities as “a measure to preserve safe tourism in the country.”