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Bishkek (Agenzia Fides) - Over the past five years, an average teacher's salary has grown fourfold in Kyrgyzstan. And more than 20% of the national budget, according to government data, goes to education. These are the data released last week by Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev during an award ceremony of national teachers, doctors and state officials who stood out in the last year for their professional commitment. During the ceremony, according to Russian media reports, Atambayev wanted to point out that the massive commitment of public educational resources is a key point in the strategy of countering religious fanaticism that continues to spread in the former Soviet republic with an Islamic majority: "It is necessary to stop hurting your head while praying. You should focus on education instead. In that case you will no longer confuse religion with Arab culture: The Almightily is neither an Arab nor a Kyrgyz, this is universal conscience and energy".
According to the Terrorism Report in Kyrgyzstan, published in June 2016 by the US Department of State, in 2015, 400 Kyrgyz citizens (including dozens of women) moved to Syria and Iraq to fight in the files of the self-proclaimed Islamic State (Daesh). (GV) (Agenzia Fides, 17/7/2017)
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