Ministers of Foreign Affairs (Kazakhstan)


Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan is an official in the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, responsible for ensuring the implementation of foreign policy. He/She heads the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan can independently appoint and dismiss the minister without consulting the Parliament. The current foreign minister of Kazakhstan is Mukhtar Tleuberdi.

Functions

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan operates relying on the Regulation on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan approved by the Decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 1118, dated October 28, 2004. The Minister is authorized to represent the Republic of Kazakhstan in relations with foreign states and international organizations within its competence, represents the Ministry in state bodies and other organizations. He also determines the duties and powers of deputies, appoints to positions and dismisses, promotes and imposes disciplinary penalties on the staff of the diplomatic service, determines the need for personnel of diplomatic service bodies, exercises other powers in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

History

The position of the head of a foreign affairs office on Kazakh territory was first documented during the period of existence of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which was created in the initial period after the October Revolution of 1917. This position was called the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Turkestan ASSR, whose activities were regulated by the Regulations on the Commissariat of Foreign Affairs of the Turkestan Republic in the Russian Federation. The functional duties of the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Turkestan ASSR included political relations with foreign governments, patronage in foreign lands to trade and the interests of the republic, an application for the lawful protection of the citizens of the republic abroad. The position of the Minister for Foreign Affairs in the modern sense appeared in February 1944 after the adoption of the USSR Law «On Submission of Powers to the Union Republics in the Field of Foreign Relations and on the Transformation of the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs from the All-Union into Union-Republic People’s Commissariat». By then, all of the Union republics of the USSE gained the right to enter into direct relations with foreign states, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR performing all of the main foreign policy functions. Between 1944–1974, the office also concurrently served as the office of the Deputy Chairmen of the Council of Ministers of the Kazakh SSR. The position of Kazakhstan's foreign minister in its current form was established in 1991 after the Kazakh SSR changed its name to the Republic of Kazakhstan and gained its independence from the Soviet Union.

List of Ministers

This is a list of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan.
NamePositionBeginEnd
Tulegen TazhibayevPeople's Commissar for Foreign Affairs19441946
Tulegen TazhibayevMinister of Foreign Affairs of the Kazakh SSR19461953
Khairgaliy BaygalievMinister of Foreign Affairs of the Kazakh SSR19531955
Tulegen TazhibayevMinister of Foreign Affairs of the Kazakh SSR19551958
Askar ZakarinDeputy Chairmen of the Council of Ministers - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kazakh SSR19581961
Uteshkali AtambayevDeputy Chairmen of the Council of Ministers - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kazakh SSR19611963
Adi SharipovDeputy Chairmen of the Council of Ministers - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kazakh SSR19631966
Balzhan BultrikovaDeputy Chairmen of the Council of Ministers - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kazakh SSR19661971
Malik FazylovMinister of Foreign Affairs of the Kazakh SSR19731976
Muslim BazarbayevMinister of Foreign Affairs of the Kazakh SSR19761981
Mikhail IsinaliyevMinister of Foreign Affairs of the Kazakh SSR19811989
Akmaral ArystanbekovaMinister of Foreign Affairs of the Kazakh SSR1989December 1991
Toleutay SuleymenovMinister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of KazakhstanDecember 19911994
Kanat SaudabayevMinister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan19941994
Kassym-Jomart TokayevMinister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan19941999
Erlan IdrisovMinister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan19992002
Kassym-Jomart TokayevMinister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of KazakhstanJune 2003January 2007
Marat TazhinMinister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of KazakhstanJanuary 11, 2007September 4, 2009
Kanat SaudabayevMinister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of KazakhstanSeptember 4, 2009April 11, 2011
Yerzhan KazykhanovMinister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of KazakhstanApril 11, 2011September 24, 2012
Erlan IdrisovMinister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of KazakhstanSeptember 28, 2012December 28, 2016
Kairat AbdrakhmanovMinister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of KazakhstanDecember 28, 2016December 26, 2018
Beibut AtamkulovMinister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of KazakhstanDecember 26, 2018September 18, 2019
Mukhtar TleuberdiMinister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of KazakhstanSeptember 18, 2019Present