Ottawa Life Magazine writer Mckenzie Donovan wins Foreign Media Award

 Ottawa Life Magazine Features writer Mckenzie Donovan has been named the winner in the Americas category in the 2022 Kazakhstan through the Eyes of Foreign Media Contest which has been held annually since 2014. The Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the results of the contest today.  Donovan has been

Nazarbayev, Tokayev and Kazakhstan’s continuing political reform journey

 Kazakhstan is a central Asian republic with a long, storied history dating back to prehistory, through the Mongol era, the Kazakh Khanate, the Russian Empire, and subsequently the Soviet Union. Thirty-one years after regaining the statehood that was lost when the Kazakh Khanate was absorbed by Russia 180 years ago, Kazakhstan

The status quo is over: Kazakhs want real change

 ABOVE: With the ongoing violence and the loyalty of some security forces being questioned, President Tokayev called in the Russian-led CTSO to restore order. As people worldwide rang in the New Year, Kazakhstan experienced an outbreak of political violence unparalleled in the country’s post-independence history. Kazakhstan is a peaceful, developed

Reforms are transforming Kazakhstan into a modern and effective state

 In 2019, Kazakhstan’s new President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev committed to bring the country to a path of political and economic reforms, enhancing dialogue between the state and its people and implementing a series of significant political and social reforms. A year and a half later, and despite the COVID-19 pandemic Tokayev

Summit of Cooperation Council of Turkish Speaking States

 Above: Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev participates in the Summit of Cooperation of Turkish Speaking States. On March 31, 2021 Kazakhstan partook in an informal summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkish Speaking States. The meeting occurred online due Covid-19 and the inability to host an in-person conference. The council, founded in 2009, is

Kazakhstan — the continued long march to liberal democracy

 Above: President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev (centre) celebrates the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of Kazakhstan, August 2020. It has been nearly two years since the first president of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, resigned from his office and transferred power to Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, chair of the Senate and

Kazakhstan provides humanitarian aid to its neighbours

 by Akylbek Kamaldinov, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Canada Humanitarian aid is a generally accepted international practice to provide mutual support to members of the world community. Today, in terms of the global Covid-19 pandemic, many countries are providing various types of assistance aiming to increase their capabilities to tackle the

Kazakhstan President Tokayev announces more democratic reforms

 June 2019 was a turning point in Kazakhstan’s history. It was the first time since the collapse of the former Soviet Union, over thirty years ago, that the larger-than-life former President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, did not run for election; he resigned earlier in the year. His appointed successor and Nur Otan party candidate,

The Republic of Kazakhstan 2019 election: Not our democracy but a democracy all the same

 People in the Western world really don’t know what repression is. It’s evident in our discourse on political issues when the words dictator and tyrant are used as low-brow insults directed at countries without much thought to the meaning these words carry. Few understand what real repression is, nor can

Op-Ed: Kazakhstan votes for progress and continuity

 On March 19, 2019, President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced that he would step down from office and initiate a constitutional transition of the executive branch. The Interim-President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called for an early election for June. Seven candidates have entered the race including Daniya Yespayeva from the Ak Zhol party. The nomination of Yespayeva