Kazakhstan

Twenty-four years ago, in April 1990, Nursultan Nazarbayev was first elected president of Kazakhstan - at the time of the Kazakh SSR, one of the republics of the former Soviet Union. Today, Kazakhstan has become one of the fastest growing economies in Central Asia and respected member of the international community.

Nursultan Nazarbayev, before becoming president of the country, in 1984, Nazarbayev became the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan (chairman of the Council of Ministers), working with the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, Dinmukhamed Kunayev,.

After that in the country's first presidential election, held on 1 December, he appeared alone on the ballot and won 91.5% of the vote. Moreover, on 21 December, he signed the Alma-Ata Protocol, taking Kazakhstan into the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Regarding second presidential election, an April 1995 referendum extended his term until 2000. He was re-elected in January 1999 and again in December 2005. On 4 December 2005 new Presidential elections were held and President Nazarbayev won by an overwhelming majority of 91.15%. Nazarbayev was sworn in for another seven-year term on 11 January 2006.

On 18 May 2007, the Parliament of Kazakhstan approved a constitutional amendment which would allow Nazarbayev to seek re-election as many times as he wishes. This amendment applies specifically and only to Nazarbayev: the original constitution's prescribed maximum of two presidential terms will still apply to all future presidents of Kazakhstan.

Nazarbayev is a constant participant of the most important conferences and forums of the world, such as high-level meetings as UN General Assembly, Nuclear Security Summits, World Economic Forum in Davos. Nazarbayev has opened Kazakhstan's doors as host country for high-level events: the OSCE Summit in Astana held in December 2010, the 38th Session of the OIC Ministerial Council in June, 2011, and the Almaty 1 & Almaty 2 P5+1 talks with Iran on its nuclear program.

Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev received the Man of the Year national award in 2012. The award in State Policy category was also given to Russia's President Vladimir Putin and President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. The leaders of the three countries were awarded for their contribution into creation of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) and the Customs Union. Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan signed on May 29, 2014 a treaty to create an Eurasian Economic Union which will create a single economic space of 170 million people and come into effect in January 2015. Nazarbayev said shortly after the treaty was signed, “We see this as an open space and a new bridge between the growing economies of Europe and Asia.”

One of the most important step is that President Nazarbayev declared a holy war against corruption and ordered the adoption of "10 steps against corruption" to fight corruption at all levels of state and society.

Interesting to note that during the Soviet era, over 500 military experiments with nuclear weapons were conducted by scientists in the Kazakhstan region, mostly at the Semipalatinsk Test Site, causing radiation sickness and birth defects. As the influence of the Soviet Union waned, Nazarbayev closed the site. He later claimed that he had encouraged Olzhas Suleimenov's anti-nuclear movement in Kazakhstan, and was always fully committed to the group's goals. In what was dubbed 'Project Sapphire', the Kazakhstan and United States government worked closely to dismantle former Soviet weapons stored in the country, with the Americans agreeing to fund over $800 million in transportation and 'compensation' costs.

As president, looking far into the future, Nazarbayev unveiled in his 2012 State of the Nation the Kazakhstan 2050 Strategy, a long-term strategy to ensure future growth prospects of Kazakhstan, and position Kazakhstan as one of the 30 most developed nations in the world.

In 2011, Nazarbayev called on his government to provide increased opportunities for women to serve in politics and government. "I instruct the government, together with the Presidential administration and the national commission for women's affairs, the leadership of the Nur Otan Party, to form a concrete plan effective to 2016 for the promotion of women in taking decisions", he said at the first women's congress.

In order to attract the foreign investors, in February 2014 he proposed renaming the country Kazakhstan to Kazakh Eli. His purpose was to drop the "stan" in the country's name in an attempt to differentiate itself from other countries on its southern borders.

Talking about private life of president of Kazakhstan, he is married to Sara Alpysqyzy Nazarbayeva who heads the International Children's Charity Fund "Bobek". Moreover, they have three daughters — Dariga, Dinara and Aliya.

The main parameters of the country have changed during the sovereign development, under the leadership of Nursultan Nazarbayev. The state has become a really independent, stably developing constitutional state, words and deeds which have significant weight in global politics, including the post of OSCE chairman.