On November 6, 2001, President
Nursultan Nazarbayev signed a secret presidential decree that called for a regulated organization to deal with defending the internal borders of Kazakh territory. Just close to 15 years later, in December 2015, the president approved a concept developed by the military which provided the basis for the territorial troops. The following March, the
National government established the Main Directorate of Territorial Defense in the General Staff to act as the management body for the territorial troops. For the first time in May 2017, a combined inter-regional contingent (
East Kazakhstan,
South Kazakhstan and the City of Astana) took part in the
Defender of the Fatherland Day Military Parade on
Astana's
Independence Square, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the formation of the military. Since September 2017, the Territorial Troops have been included in the military doctrine of Kazakhstan. == Command Structure ==