Tri-Service

Kazakhstan's MoD Launches Military Beauty Contest

Military chiefs in Kazakhstan have launched a competition to decide the most beautiful female member of its armed forces.

In a bid to encourage more people to join up and boost morale among existing troops, photos of 123 female military personnel have been posted to the official website of the country's Ministry of Defense.

The images show the women in a number of guises - in military uniform, posing with weapons and also in civilian clothes. Information about each candidate's hobbies and interests accompanies the pictures.

Online voting has started and is open to neighbouring nations including Russia - with "several potential winners" already identified.

The 12 candidates with the highest number of votes will then take part in a photoshoot before featuring in a calendar to be released next year.

It's the first such competition amongst female soldiers in Kazakhstan.

A statement on the website of the country’s Ministry of Defence read:

“During the first week of open internet voting over 29,000 people voted for the contestants. The turnout includes voters from Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan. All this indicates that this competition portrayed Kazakhs positively and aroused great public interest."

“Those who have not yet had time to vote have the opportunity to… [do so] before May 10 of this year," it added.

One voter said they thought the competition would help improve the image of Kazakhstan after it was lampooned by Sacha Baron Cohen's comedy character, Borat.