An ethnic Armenian from Kazakhstan has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in jail on Islamic extremism charges in Russia.
Vazgen Zargarian, a 24-year-old resident of Almaty, pleaded guilty to several attempts to join the militant group in Syria that calls itself Islamic State (IS).
The North Caucasus Regional Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Zargarian on April 27.
Zargarian was arrested in Rostov-on-Don in 2015 when trying to reach Syria through Turkey.
Central Asian states have said that hundreds of their citizens have joined IS extremists and other militant groups in Syria and Iraq.
The majority of ethnic Armenians are Christians.
