Kyrgyzstan on Monday opened its first state Islamic academy, the latest measure by the secular majority-Muslim country in its attempts to control the influence of religion and combat extremism.

Former Soviet republics across Central Asia are trying to manage a resurgence in Islam that has taken off since the break-up of the Soviet Union, which had imposed state atheism.

Authorities in Kyrgyzstan said the new academy, which can accommodate 400 students in the northern city of Tokmok, meets the “growing need for objective religious education.”

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov said that the growing threat of religious extremism both worldwide and in Central Asia “directly undermines national security and contributes to the spread of ideologies based on violence.”

Authorities in the region stepped up efforts to counter radicalization after thousands of their citizens joined terrorist groups in the Middle East during the rise of Daesh in 2013-2015.

Kyrgyzstan, like other states in Central Asia, has banned the wearing of the niqab, the Islamic full-face veil, and allows men to sport only short beards.

Earlier this year, Bishkek announced plans to limit the construction of mosques after closing dozens of them, mainly in the more religious south of the country.

Source: Arab News