Ministry for National Security (Turkmenistan)


The Ministry for National Security or MNB is the secret police agency for the government of Turkmenistan. It is composed largely of the remnants of KGB organs left over after the collapse of the Soviet Union; its functions remain largely the same as well. The MNB and the national police force are under the direction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
Until 2002 was known as the KNB.

History

The ministry was by President Saparmurat Niyazov established in September 1991 as the National Security Committee. It succeeded the Committee for State Security, or the KGB of the Turkmen SSR, which was the republican affiliate of the uniformed security agency of the USSR. Some units of the KNB were also former on the basis of a special purpose police unit of the Public Order Protection Directorate of the Interior Ministry of the Turkmen SSR. The MNB Institute was established to provide higher level training to its personnel The Counter Terrorism Training Center of the MNB was also opened in the capital in October 2005 as a training institution. In December 2010, the MNB moved to its current headquarters on 2033 Magtymguly Street, Ashgabat.

List of Ministers of National Security

has claimed that the MNB has persecuted Turkmens for their religious beliefs, and that only members of the Russian Orthodox Church and Sunni Muslims are tolerated. Human Rights Watch has asserted that the KNB has repeatedly imprisoned and harassed political opponents. Both organizations cite the use of torture by KNB agents.