77 Facts About Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

Kassym-Jomart Kemeluly Tokayev is a Kazakh politician and diplomat who is currently serving as the President of Kazakhstan since 20 March 2019.

In 1999, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev became the Deputy Prime Minister, and in October of that year with the endorsement of the Parliament, he was appointed as Prime Minister by President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

From 2002, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev served as Foreign Minister and State Secretary, where he continued to play an active role in the field of nuclear non-proliferation.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was the Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva from 2011 to 2013 and served twice as a Chairman of the Kazakh Senate from 2007 to 2011 and 2013 to 2019.

In 2019, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev assumed office as the acting president after Nursultan Nazarbayev's resignation.

From 2020, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had endured the economic downturn and troubles caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and War in Afghanistan and has sought to solve Kazakhstan's rising inflation, domestic terrorism, illegal migration, drug trafficking, nuclear energy development and power shortages caused by cryptocurrency mining, as well as the COVID-19 vaccination rollout.

In 2022, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced constitutional reforms that would limit his powers and grant more authority to the Parliament.

Shortly thereafter, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took leadership role in the Security Council and ruling Amanat party from Nazarbayev and along with his relatives, dismissed several officials who held a close relationship with Nazarbayev.

The 2022 Suisse secrets leaks revealed that the Kassym-Jomart Tokayev family had maintained an elaborate network of secretive offshore wealth assets since at least 1998.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was born to a Muslim Kazakh family in the city of Alma-Ata.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's father, Kemel Tokayev, was a World War II veteran and a well-known writer who is considered to be the founder of Kazakh detective fiction.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was named after his uncle Kassym Tokayev, who was a Red Army soldier and was killed during the Battle of Rzhev.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev spent part of his childhood in the village of Kalpe, Karatal District, Almaty Region, where his family had lived for generations.

From 1970, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev attended the Moscow State Institute of International Relations where he studied Mandarin.

In 1979, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev returned to the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was then posted to the Soviet embassy in Beijing where he served until 1991 as Second Secretary, First Secretary, and Counsellor.

In March 1992, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was appointed as a Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In 1993, he became First Deputy Foreign Minister and on 13 October 1994, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was appointed to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs.

In March 1999, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was promoted to the post of Deputy Prime Minister.

The move came just days after a group of prominent Kazakh officials whom Kassym-Jomart Tokayev accused and others announced the creation of Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan at a press conference.

On 28 January 2002, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev resigned from his post without a full explanation, calling it a "normal event" due to "a strong presidency".

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was appointed as a State Secretary and Minister of Foreign Affairs concurrently.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was elected Chairman of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States and of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took part in ten sessions of the United Nations General Assembly.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev held a diplomatic rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev served the post until being relieved on 15 April 2011 after being appointed as Director-General of the United Nations.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev served as Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is the author of nine books and numerous articles on international affairs.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is a Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science, a member of the Panel of Eminent Persons at the Munich Security Conference, an Honorary Professor of Shenzhen University, an Honorary Professor and Doctor of the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, as well as a member of its board of trustees.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is Honorary Dean of the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations.

On 9 April 2019, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced early elections to be held on 9 June 2019.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was congratulated by foreign heads of state such as Xi Jinping, Ilham Aliyev, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Emomali Rahmon, and Sooronbay Jeenbekov.

Immediately after the inauguration, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed renaming the capital city of Kazakhstan after his predecessor, and the same day the Parliament of Kazakhstan approved the renaming of Astana to Nur-Sultan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was one of the first foreign leaders to congratulate Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, inviting him to visit Moscow in a joint telephone conversation with him and Nazarbayev.

In June 2019, following a military ammo deposit blast in the town of Arys which resulted in evacuations of residents and hundreds of injuries, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev launched a criminal case and ordered the Interior and Defence ministries to prevent possible more explosions, pledging that any perpetrators would be prosecuted.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev delivered his first State of the Nation Address on 2 September 2019.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev blamed "two criminal groups" fighting over contraband for the deadly ethnic violence between ethnic Kazakhs and the relatively wealthier Dungan minority.

Many theories arose that this was a sign of either Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was expanding his political influence or a growing feud between the ruling elite.

At the opening session of the 7th Parliament held on 15 January 2021, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev reappointed Asqar Mamin as the Prime Minister.

On 16 March 2022, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed constitutional reforms to limit the powers of his office, saying the country needed to switch from "superpresidential" rule to a presidential republic with a strong parliament.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev advocated political reforms that would promote the concept of a "state that listens" to civil society creating a constructive dialogue.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev initiated the establishment of the new National Council of Public Trust to facilitate this dialogue.

In December 2019, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced that Kazakhstan would join the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, after the issue was raised by Kazakh human rights activists and experts during discussions at the meetings of the National Council of Public Trust.

On 2 January 2021, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed decree approved by the Parliament in abolishing death penalty in Kazakhstan.

In September 2021, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called for an increase of the national minimum wage for the first time since 2018, citing the global pandemic that affected the purchasing power for citizens and asserted that it would lead to growth in domestic consumption.

In terms of wage fund, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev instructed the government to implement soft measures in encouraging businesses to raise salaries for employees by pledging for state-supported benefits.

Just a month later in July 2020, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev reintroduced restrictions in Kazakhstan which lasted until August 2020.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev vowed to crackdown on fraudulent vaccine passports and provide Kazakh citizens broader options for different vaccine manufacturers.

At the teacher's conference held in August 2019, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced that the average salary for schoolteachers in Kazakhstan would be increased by double within four years.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev instructed the Ministry of Education and Science to develop and launch special programs to overcome the academic gap of children from low-income families and schools in socially troubled areas, noting the need of overcome educational inequality specially between rural and urban areas.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev expressed the need for Kazakhstan to have a nuclear power plant in April 2019, claiming that the country would face an electricity deficit by 2030.

In May 2021, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced the Low-Carbon Development Concept, a national project which seeks to reduce Kazakhstan's dependency on coal by development electric power industry and the country's energy balance by 2035.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev addressed the problems regarding the air pollution in Almaty.

On 4 October 2021, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a bill aimed at protecting the ecosystem of the Caspian Sea by establishing a regular assessment for the state of marine environment and coastal areas of the sea, and an assessment to the level of sea pollution along the coastline.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev supported a health insurance mandate in Kazakhstan as a way to improve the quality and accessibility of medical services as well as maintained funding for free medical care and the development of healthcare system.

On 7 July 2020, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed the new code "On public health and healthcare system" and law "On amendments and additions to certain legislative acts on healthcare issues" into place, which strengthened legal protection for medical personnel, introduced a differentiated approach to medical errors, and redefined a citizen's rights regarding vaccination.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev pledged for the government to continue in investing for the development of infrastructure so that Kazakh citizens would have an access for clean drinking water, natural gas and public transport and continue in monitoring the implementation of the Nurly Zhol programme, of which was enacted by Nazarbayev.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called for the officials along with the Parliament and Accounts Committee to ensure the efficient use of budget funds.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev pledged continuity of foreign policy initiated by his predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Just two weeks after taking office, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev visited Moscow in his first foreign state visit on 4 April 2019, meeting with Putin alongside other Russian officials.

In June 2019, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stated that the decision of constructing a nuclear power plants would be made on decision by local matter, if by means of a referendum.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev paid a two-day state visit to China in September 2019.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev vowed to triple wheat exports to China to 2 million tonnes possibly including salt, dairy products, meat and poultry as well.

On 14 April 2019, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev visited neighboring Uzbekistan for talks with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev criticised Lithuania for opposing a Russian offer for its Mazeikiu oil refinery.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev reaffirmed Kazakhstan's desire to join the European Neighbourhood Policy.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev rejected the proposed construction of the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline to Azerbaijan, in which the EU officials desired due to the likelihood of opposition from other nations bordering the Caspian Sea.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met with United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Barry Lowenkron, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights, on 25 September 2006 in Rice's suite at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is described as a "moderate conservative" with years of political experience domestically and internationally.

Nevertheless, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev referred himself as a "reformer", stressing that without political reforms, there wouldn't be progress in economic reforms.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said that Kazakhstan is "highly vulnerable to climate change as a landlocked and developing state" with a heavy reliant on fossil fuels and proposed for the planting for two billion trees within the country in order increase carbon absorption and curb looming desertification problems.

At the Forum of Muslim Scientists of Eurasia which was held in Astana in March 2018, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev addressed the audience the need for the country to have "enlightened Islam" by strengthening science and cultural traditions in the Islamic civilization.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev expressed a negative attitude towards nationalism which he claimed to have gained traction in midst of COVID-19 pandemic, criticising the ideology for provoking conflict between nations that would result in economic losses for Kazakhstan.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's son Timur was born on in 1984 and is an oil entrepreneur who currently resides in Geneva, Switzerland.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is a polyglot, fluent in Kazakh, Russian, English, Chinese and French.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was President of the Table Tennis Federation of Kazakhstan for 13 years.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has made it a point not to mark his birthday with celebrations, with his press secretary saying in 2020 that he "does not like to celebrate this day because his family has never celebrated the birthdays of either the children or parents".