Kyrgyzstan to impose limits on number of places of worship

The Kyrgyz cabinet has expressed concerns about the growing number of places of worship in the country. To address the issue, authorities have proposed introducing specific rules and guidelines to regulate the number of new places of worship in various areas. The draft regulation has already been brought up for public consideration, as reported by the local 24.kg news portal.  

The Kyrgyz State Commission for Religious Affairs has been registering previously built but unregistered places of worship in the country over the past four years. During this period, local authorities have discovered almost 650 religious buildings operating without official registration.

«The cabinet proposed that when designing houses of worship, the distance between them should be at least two kilometers in villages, at least three kilometers in rural areas and at least four kilometers in towns,» 24.kg reported.

The cabinet has pledged that already constructed facilities will not be subject to the new rules if the project is adopted.

Meanwhile, Kazakhstan reported the construction of 82 new mosques over the past year, bringing the total number to 2,888 mosques. In January, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev approved the establishment of a mosque and an Orthodox chapel at the historic Lisya Balka site in Shymkent, where mass executions took place during the Soviet era.