Nursultan Nazarbayev: Difference between revisions
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|order=1st [[President of Kazakhstan|President of the Republic of Kazakhstan]] |
|order=1st [[President of Kazakhstan|President of the Republic of Kazakhstan]] |
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|term_start=[[1990]] |
|term_start=[[1990]] |
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|term_end= |
|term_end=[[2006]] |
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|predecessor= |
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|successor= |
|successor=[[Borat]] |
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|birth_date=[[July 6]], [[1940]] |
|birth_date=[[July 6]], [[1940]] |
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|birth_place=[[Chemolgan]], [[Soviet Union]], present-day [[Kazakhstan]] |
|birth_place=[[Chemolgan]], [[Soviet Union]], present-day [[Kazakhstan]] |
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Revision as of 13:15, 9 February 2007
Nursultan Nazarbayev Нұрсұлтан Назарбаев | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 1st President of the Republic of Kazakhstan | |
| In office 1990–2006 | |
| Succeeded by | Borat |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 6, 1940 Chemolgan, Soviet Union, present-day Kazakhstan |
| Political party | Nur-Otan |
| Spouse | Sara Alpysovna |
Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev (Kazakh: Нұрсұлтан Әбішұлы Назарбаев [Nûrsûltan Äbîshûlâ Nazarbayev]; Russian: Нурсултан Абишевич Назарбаев) (born 6 July 1940 in Chemolgan, Kazakhstan) has served as the President of Kazakhstan since the Fall of the Soviet Union and the nation's independence in 1991. He served as the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Kazakh SSR from 1984 to 1989, serving under Dinmukhamed Kunayev, the First Secretary of the Kazakh Communist Party. He became the First Secretary of the Kazakh Communist Party from 1989 to 1991.In 1984 Nazarbayev became the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, working under Dinmukhamed Kunayev, the First Secretary of the Kazakh Communist Party.[1]
He has long professed to be an atheist, but has tried to highlight his "Muslim heritage" since the late 1990s while trying to combat Islamic terrorism in Kazakhstan.[2]
Zheltoqsan
Nazarbayev criticized Askar Kunayev, head of the Academy of Sciences, at the sixteenth session of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan in January 1986 for not reforming his department. Dinmukhamed Kunayev, Nazarbayev's boss and Askar's brother, deeply angered and feeling betrayed, went to Moscow and demanded Nazarbayev's dismissal while Nazarbayev's supporters campaigned for Kunayev's dismissal and Nazarbayev's promotion. Mikhail Gorbachev ignored them both, firing Kunayev but replacing him with Gennady Kolbin, an ethnic Russian, triggering three days of riots known as the Zheltoqsan. Nazarbayev replaced Kolbin, who despite his office and had little authority in Kazakhstan, in September 1989.[1]
Kazakhs elected Nazarbayev President of Kazakhstan on 1 December 1991[1]. An April 1995 referendum extended his term until 2000. He was re-elected in January 1999 and again in December 2005. His latest election has been condemned by the OSCE as falling short of international democratic standards.
Policies
His government's policies are considered moderate and maintain a balance between the United States and Russia. He has opened Kazakhstan's lucrative Tengiz and Kashagan oil fields to American oil firms. Domestically, he has adopted a policy similar to China's in that he is pursuing capitalist economic development without political liberalization, sometimes resulting in draconian policies and harsh clampdowns on dissent, including the disqualifications of electoral opponents and the muzzling of the press, which incidentally is controlled by his daughter, Dariga Nursultanovna Nazarbayeva. Nevertheless, he is respected by some in the West for his relatively even-handed development of the country and his maintaining stability and growth in a volatile, energy rich region.
His supporters credit him with improving the lot of common Kazakhs in the face of allegations that he stashed well over a billion U.S. dollars in Swiss bank accounts and allegations of rampant corruption involving himself and many members of his government, including former Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Nurlan Balgimbayev, in the Kazakhgate scandal. He initiated the move of the administration from Almaty to Astana.
He is married to Sara Alpysovna Nazarbayeva, with whom he has had three daughters; Dariga, Dinara and Aliya. Dariga is married to Rakhat Aliyev, son of a former minister of healthcare, who serves as the First Deputy Foreign Minister. Dinara is married to Timur Kulibayev, son of a former Minister of Construction, who serves as the First Deputy Chairman of the national holding company Samruk which manages several state-owned companies and, formerly, as the first Vice President of the state-owned petroleum company KazMunaiGas. Aliya is a prominent businesswoman. She was married to Aidar Akayev, the son of former Kyrgyz President, Askar Akaev, whom she divorced.
On 4 December 2005 new Presidential elections were held and President Nazarbayev won by an overwhelming majority of 91.15% (from a total of 6,871,571 eligible participating voters) as reported by the Central Electoral Commission of Kazakhstan, an estimation criticized by the OSCE and other election watchdog organizations. Nazarbayev was sworn in for another seven-year term on 11 January 2006.
Nazarbayev is often criticized for his authoritarian style of leadership. Galymzhan Zhakiyanov and Mukhtar Ablyazov formed the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan political party in November 2001. Zharmakhan Tuyakbay and others formed the For a Just Kazakhstan movement in 2005. Prominent opposition leaders Zamanbek Nurkadylov and Altynbek Sarsenbayev were murdered in November 2005 and February 2006, respectively.
Criticism of Iran
In a speech given on 15 December 2006 marking the 15th anniversary of Kazakhstan's independence Nazarbayev criticized actions taken by the Iranian government, saying Iran had become a center of growing insecurity in Asia by engaging in international terrorism, fundamentalism, the spread of weapons of mass destruction, illegal immigration, and weapons and drug trafficking. The Kazakh Foreign Ministry released a statement on 19 December, saying his remarks were not "what he really meant," and his comments were "mistakes."[3]
See also
External links
- Official webpage
- Pro-Nazarbayev video
- Kazakh President demands firing of telecom chief
- Brief introduction to relations between China and Kazakhstan
- Kazakhstan, Armenia sign agreements to develop relations
- Kazakhstan has no need for West's advice - Nazarbayev
- Kazakhstan to export 6-7 mln tonnes of grains of this year harvest
- Pro-Nazarbayev party merges with President's power base
- Kazakhstan: New political party borrows from Western right
- Kazakhstan to be top oil producer by 2011: Nazarbayev
- Kazakh blogger found guilty
- ^ a b c Power and Change in Central Asia, pages 59-61 Google books
- ^ Kazakstan - Government Mongabay
- ^ Kazakhstan dismisses alleged anti-Iran comments from president IRNA