Articles by Saltanat Boteu

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s public consensus and nationwide unity model is unique and valuable and sets an example for many countries, Kyzylorda Region Turkish community leader Gulchin Geidarova told the Astana Times in an exclusive interview. The region’s Turkish ethno-cultural centre opened in December 2004. According to the centre’s head, ethno-cultural centres are created as part…

NUR-SULTAN – Citi has been supporting the Astana International Financial Centre’s (AIFC) work and plans to continue cooperating, said Julie Monaco, head of Citi Global Public Sector and the only female on the AIFC Managing Council, in an interview with The Astana Times. Doing business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions, the company provides…

NUR-SULTAN – The Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan (APK) and ethno cultural centres across the country play a significant role for the nation, said the capital’s Barbang Kurd ethnocultural centre head Shamo Fatoyev. They represent and praise the diversity of the population. At the same time, abroad we are all Kazakhs, he noted. “I…

NUR-SULTAN – Bauyrzhan Khibash, an animal enthusiast from the Atyrau Region, has been volunteering to preserve and revive Kazakh aboriginal shepherd dogs for 15 years with the help of like-minded people. The work is important for the country from economic, environmental and cultural perspectives, he told The Astana Times. “Many years ago, I thought about…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh chess player Assel Serikbai won the Asian U-20 Championship, which took place June 30 to July 9 in Surakarta, Indonesia. Kazakh player Nazerke Nurgali also won gold and bronze in the championship’s blitz and rapid tournaments respectively.  Serikbai bypassed 36 rivals from nine countries to win the championship. With her tournament results,…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh law enforcement detained more than 100 people July 6 for conducting unauthorised protests in the capital and Almaty, Kazakh Minister of Internal Affairs Yerlan Turgumbayev said July 9. The minister said 44 people were brought to administrative responsibility, 19 people were sentenced to administrative arrests. An administrative fine was imposed on 23…

NUR-SULTAN – The Almaty Region tops many lists with its rich natural attractions, one of which is Burkhan-Bulak, Kazakhstan’s highest waterfall. It is located in the mountainous Jongar Alatau area in the Kora River gorge. The waterfall is 168 metres long, 114 of which are visible, and rises to an altitude of 2,000 metres above…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh Mazhilis (lower house of Parliament) Chair Nurlan Nigmatulin summed up July 5 the work of the deputies in the fourth session of the sixth convocation at the joint meeting of chambers of Parliament in the capital. The Parliament adopted social and economic legislation and the national budget for 2019-2021. Nigmatulin stressed that…

NUR-SULTAN – SCAT Airlines will launch a direct Nur-Sultan – Tokyo flight July 6, Capital Day in Kazakhstan. The flight, taking approximately seven hours to Tokyo and eight hours back, will leave every Saturday from the Kazakh capital. The cost of the round-trip flight is approximately 200,000 tenge (US$519.40). The Kazakh government is subsidising the…

NUR-SULTAN – Bozzhyra is a picturesque tract on the Mangystau Region’s Ustyurt Plateau, decorated with chalk mountains that visitors call “sugar castles.” The most famous are the 200-metre tall outcrops resembling two fangs and the dazzling white landscapes are reminiscent of Monument Valley in Arizona in the U.S. The tract measures 17 kilometres north to…

NUR-SULTAN – As part of the 2019 Astana Finance Days, the Astana International Financial Centre’s (AIFC) Bureau for Continuing Professional Development (BCPD) organised Getting Trained for IPO (Initial Public Offering) seminars July 1 for Kazakh companies which are considering entering international capital markets and attracting foreign investments. The meetings involved approximately 50 companies. “Within the…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev replaced his chief of staff and made new appointments to government positions June 28, reported Akorda press service. Changes were also made at the regional level. Krymbek Kusherbayev was appointed as the head of the Presidential Administration, having previously served as the Kyzylorda Region’s Akim (Governor). In the 1990s,…

NUR-SULTAN – President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a decree June 26 providing immediate debt relief to some of the country’s most vulnerable groups. The President’s one-time action calls for the government to take measures to repay unsecured consumer loans in second-tier banks and microfinance organisations for certain segments of the population, including large families, families that…

NUR-SULTAN – Timur Kulibayev, president of the National Olympic Committee of Kazakhstan (NOC), took part in the 125th anniversary celebration of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne June 23, during which IOC President Thomas Bach officially opened Olympic House, the new headquarters of the organisation. Olympic House is recognised as one of the world’s…

NUR-SULTAN – As part of the Year of Youth, the Israeli Embassy in Kazakhstan along with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) organised a Day of Empowerment and Capacity Building June 20, with social activities to support and entertain children in contact or conflict with the law who are under the care of the capital’s…

NUR-SULTAN – The five-day International Simulation Training organised by the Kazakh Academy of Law Enforcement Agencies in the nation’s capital drew 120 participants from 17 countries to practice new skills, gain experience and enhance cooperation to address human trafficking along migration routes. The course, which will use trainings that simulate human trafficking situations, began June…

NUR-SULTAN – The Bulgar Tatar ethno cultural association in Aktau (Mangystau Region) assists those who wish to know and preserve Tatar culture, traditions and customs. The ability to maintain one’s identity and share it with others is welcome, noted association head Fandal Sakhibgareyev. “Far from the historical homeland, few have such an opportunity. The people…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh tennis player Yulia Putintseva beat Japan’s Naomi Osaka, ranked the best women’s player in the world, during the second round of the Nature Valley Classic in Birmingham. Putintseva is ranked 43rd by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA); Osaka, a U.S. Open and Australian Open winner, currently tops that list. The game lasted…

NUR-SULTAN – Japanese-Kazakh relations have acquired a partnership character, as the countries are developing economic ties, trade and investment, cultural and educational cooperation. “The country grows not by natural resources but human resources. Thus, I am confident that Kazakhstan can develop by a virtue of great human resources,” Japanese Ambassador in Nur-Sultan Tatsuhiko Kasai told…

NUR-SULTAN – The Kyzyolrda Region is famous as the home of Korkyt Ata, the ninth-century Kazakh philosopher, thinker and creator of the kobyz (stringed musical instrument). The Korkyt Ata Complex, built as a tribute to its namesake, attracts foreign tourists with its unusual architecture and legends related to the famous figure. In 1980, Aleu Kusherbayev,…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev directed June 17 the creation of the Ministry of Trade and Integration and the Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources to improve the country’s public administration system. The new Ministry of Trade and Integration takes over the functions of the Ministry of National Economy in the formation and…

NUR-SULTAN – The classic ballet “Giselle,” written by opera and ballet composer Adolphe Adam and first staged in 1841 in Paris, premiered June 14 in the Kazakh capital. Choreographer-director and People’s Artist of Russia Altynai Asylmuratova, contemporary set designer Ezio Frigerio and costume designer Franca Squarciapino staged the performance. The conductor is Arman Urazgaliyev. Asylmuratova…

NUR-SULTAN – The inauguration of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took place June 12 at the Palace of Independence in the capital. Tokayev swore an oath to the people of the country and officially assumed the office of President, emphasising he will continue developing and implementing founding and First Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s vision of the…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh weightlifters Denis Ulanov and Ilya Ilyin won gold and silver medals, respectively, at the June 7-9, 2019 British International Open weight-lifting tournament at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. The tournament is a qualifier for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Ulanov, a bronze medallist at the 2016 Olympics, competed in the weight…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh athletes Sofya Berultseva, Darkhan Assadilov and Kaisar Alpysbai were among the winners at the June 7-9 Karate 1 Premiere League main series in Shanghai, proving the country’s right to be among the strongest athletes in the world. Winning a gold medal, Assadilov became a candidate for the World Karate Federation’s (WKF) Grand…