ISLAMABAD: December 1, the date of celebration is not chosen accidentally, it is connected with Kazakhstan’s independence. It was December 1, 1991, the first nationwide elections of the president of the then Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic took place. Nursultan Nazarbayev was elected as the head of state. Nursultan Nazarbayev was elected as first president for Kazakhstan after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The planned economy failed and its remnants were hastily altered to market conditions. In the new independent countries, once united union raged ethnic and interethnic conflicts, sometimes openly turning into military action. Despite all difficulties of the transition period, Kazakhstan managed to avoid a lot of similar problems and crises that hit the post-Soviet states. In many respects, it is worthwhile to thank the balanced and multi-vector policy of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, which allowed preserving peace and harmony in the country. So it is not surprising that a few years later, in 2010, Nursultan Nazarbayev was given the status of “leader of the nation”. In the early 2000s, the republic managed to successfully avoid the waves of the so-called revolution, literally overwhelmed the post-Soviet countries. And although attempts to destabilize the situation in Kazakhstan have been carried out repeatedly, however, the presidential thesis “first economy, then politics”, allowed maintaining order in the country, says a press release issued here. Another significant step of the first president of Kazakhstan was the transfer of the capital from Almaty to the city of Akmola (formerly Tselinograd) in 1994. The redeployment process took four years. In 1998, quickly, just a few weeks before the official presentation the city was renamed to Astana. Now Astana is known all over the world. Kazakhstan’s foreign policy has always been peaceful and has been committed to mutual cooperation with other countries. One of the first initiatives of the country (and personally President Nazarbayev) on the world stage was the republic’s refusal to possess nuclear weapons and the elimination of the fourth largest nuclear arsenal. Subsequently, this decision allowed Kazakhstan and its leader to advocate for a nuclear-free world and for peace as a whole. So in 2003 in Astana, at the Palace of Friendship and Accord for the first time an unprecedented event was held, dedicated to issues of inter-religious accord - I Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. In 2010, Kazakhstan, the first among the countries of the post-Soviet space, headed the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the largest regional structure uniting 56 countries of Europe, Central Asia and North America. And, again, coincidence, on December 1-2, the OSCE Astana Summit took place, in which representatives of the states and governments of the organization participated. The main topics of the summit were security issues and the solution to “frozen” conflicts. After the meeting, the famous Astana Declaration was adopted.And now Kazakhstan is actively continuing its peacekeeping activities. Largely due to the authority of the Kazakh leader, it is in Astana that international negotiations are held to resolve the conflict in Syria. “At the request of the presidents of Russia and Turkey, Kazakhstan provided a platform for negotiations,” President Nazarbayev said during a meeting with the heads of delegations, “Everyone points out the effectiveness of this process. The problems of de-escalation of military operations in several regions have been resolved. Further cooperation mechanisms were developed, and the humanitarian situation improved. “ In addition, the Kazakh leader is one of the main initiators of integration processes in the post-Soviet space. SCO and CSTO, The Eurasian Economic Community, EAEU and Customs Union, the role of President Nazarbayev in the creation of these associations cannot be overemphasized.
