Azernews.Az

By Alimat Aliyeva

Kyrgyzstan has officially banned the cremation of human remains following the signing of amendments to the country's law "On Burial and Funeral Services" by President Sadyr Japarov, AzerNEWS reports.

Under the new legislation, all legal provisions allowing the burial of urns containing human ashes have been removed, while previous regulations recognizing cremation as a method of human burial have been declared invalid.

The revised law introduces a new definition of "cremation," limiting the term exclusively to the sanitary incineration of biological materials generated through medical activities. As a result, crematoriums are now legally defined as specialized facilities used for the thermal disposal of medical biological waste rather than for the cremation of deceased individuals.

The amendments also clarify procedures for the burial of unidentified or unclaimed bodies, as well as aborted and stillborn fetuses. According to the law, these remains will be buried by specialized funeral services in designated sections of cemeteries with the approval of the relevant internal affairs authorities.

In addition, a separate section of the legislation now regulates the establishment and operation of crematoriums, specifying that such facilities may only be used for the sanitary destruction of biological materials produced by medical institutions.

The changes reflect Kyrgyzstan’s traditional and religious approach to funeral practices. As a predominantly Muslim country, burial has long been the customary method of laying the dead to rest, while cremation has remained extremely rare. Supporters of the amendments say the new law brings the legal framework into line with the country's cultural and religious traditions, while also providing clearer rules for the handling of medical biological waste.