ASTANA. Oct 18 (Interfax) - The Kazakh authorities will continue taking measures to protect the country's population from extremist websites, the director of Kazakhstan's Agency for Religion, Kairat Lama Sharif, told journalists in Astana on Tuesday.
"As for Internet sites that are attacking Kazakhstan today, we are shutting down all websites of an extremist nature," he said.
"We are analyzing them thoroughly. We have an international center of culture and religion, whose specialists study these websites and prove their extremist nature. We contact the Prosecutor General's Office and secure the closure of these websites through courts," he said.
"Some 3,000 extremist websites are currently attacking Kazakhstan. We are keeping an eye on each of them and preparing a religious assessment. More than 100 Internet sites have been shut down since the Agency for Religion was established," Lama Sharif said.
Kazakhstan's Agency for Religion was set up within the government by President Nursultan Nazarbayev on May 18. The agency is responsible for maintaining interfaith accord, advocating citizens' right to freedom of religion and cooperating with religious organizations.