The Kazakh Central Election Commission issued a ruling on 30 September certifying the eligibility of 11 presidential candidates. The most prominent of these candidates include incumbent President Nursultan Nazarbaev; Zharmakhan Tuyakbai, the leader of the opposition “For a Just Kazakhstan” bloc; parliamentarians Ualikhan Kaisarov and Erasyl Abylkasymov; businessman Salim Oten; lawyer Mekemtas Tleulesov; and […]

Nursultan Nazarbaev met on September 30 with visiting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried in Astana. The U.S. official, on his first official visit to the region, arrived in Kazakhstan from Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan and discussed bilateral economic and security cooperation with the Kazakh president. Although Washington remains concerned over the preparations for […]