BISHKEK, June 6 (RIA Novosti) - Kyrgyzstan announced Tuesday that it was planning to raise the minimum age of military conscription from 18 to 20 years with priority being given to men with a higher education.
Unlike its former-Soviet stable mate Russia, which experiences perennial problems meeting draft quotas for its army of just over a million, Kyrgyzstan's defense minister said the ranks were full.
"We do not have any problem with the draft," Ismail Isakov said. "Out of every 17 young people only one gets drafted."
The Central Asian republic, which has a population of just over five million, currently has an army of 7,000 people with young men being drafted for a term of one year.
The minister said the conscripted soldiers did not perform non-military tasks but concentrated on professional combat training.
