Tokayev appointed new ambassadors to Egypt, Palestine, and Portugal

Tengrinews.kz - President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has appointed new ambassadors, according to an Akorda statement.

By presidential decree, Askar Zhenisuly Zhenis has been appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Arab Republic of Egypt.

Askar Zhenis - Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Egypt

Born in 1974, Askar graduated from Al-Farabi Kazakh National University in 1996, specializing in Oriental Studies.

He began his career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1997 and has held various positions in national companies such as Kazakhoil, Kazakhtelecom, KazTransGas, and the Foreign Policy Center of the Presidential Administration. From 2008 to 2012, he served as Kazakhstan’s Consul General in Istanbul, and from 2012 to 2014, as Consul General in Dubai. Between 2014 and 2020, he was Kazakhstan's ambassador to Qatar.

From 2020 to 2021, he chaired the Investment Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, later heading the ministry’s Almaty office from 2021 to 2022. Most recently, he served as Director of the Department for the Middle East, Near East, and Africa at the Foreign Ministry from 2022 to 2024.

Before his current appointment in 2024, Askar was an ambassador-at-large at the Foreign Ministry. He holds the diplomatic rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Second Class and is fluent in Arabic, English, and Turkish.

By another decree, Daulet Kasekenovich Batyrashev has been appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Croatia, relieving him of his duties as ambassador to Portugal.

Daulet Batyrashev - Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Croatia

Batrashov was born on August 1, 1971, in Almaty and graduated from Satpayev Kazakh Polytechnic Institute in 1993 with a degree in Engineering Management.

He began his professional career in 1993 as a specialist in the development department of the KRAMDS Territorial Company. Between 1993 and 1994, he worked as a reference translator in the Secretariat of the Nevada-Semipalatinsk Anti-Nuclear Movement and the Zhetysu Hydrological Reclamation Expedition under the Ministry of Agriculture. In 1994, he was appointed Deputy Director for Foreign Economic Relations at Porshen Komplekt. In 1995, he became a specialist in the International Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration.

Batrashov joined the Foreign Ministry in 1996, starting as an attaché at Kazakhstan's embassy in the UK. He later returned to the ministry’s central office, where he held positions from second secretary to advisor. Between 1999 and 2002, he was an aide to the Prime Minister, and in 2002, he was appointed Chief of Staff at the Foreign Ministry.

From 2003 to 2006, Batrashov served as Consul General in Amsterdam and acting chargé d'affaires in the Netherlands. Between 2006 and 2011, he held several roles, including ambassador-at-large, advisor to the Senate Chair, and deputy chief of staff at the Senate. From 2011 to 2014, he was a minister-counselor at Kazakhstan’s embassy in the UK, and from 2014 to 2019, he served as ambassador to Romania.

Before his appointment to Croatia in 2024, Batrashov had served as Kazakhstan’s ambassador to Portugal since 2019. He holds the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and speaks English and Turkish.

Additionally, Akylbek Kamaldinov was relieved of his duties as ambassador to Croatia.

Jean Galiev has been appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Portugal.

Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs press service

Jean Galiev – Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Portugal

Born in 1972, Galiev graduated from the Kazakh State University of International Relations and World Languages in 1994. He later studied at the Institute of International Relations in Strasbourg under the Bolashak program (1996), the International Institute of Public Administration in Paris (1998), the Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg, and the Academy of International Law in The Hague. In 2006, he completed a course at the Diplomatic Academy of Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry.

He began his career as a linguist expert at the National Higher School of Public Administration. Since 1999, Galiev has worked at the Foreign Ministry, holding roles such as referent, third secretary, and second secretary of the Bilateral Cooperation Department. From 2001 to 2005, he was second secretary at Kazakhstan’s embassy in France, later becoming head of the Europe Department. He also served as minister-counselor at embassies in Belgium and France and ambassador-at-large.

From 2017 to 2022, he was ambassador to France and Monaco and Kazakhstan’s permanent representative to UNESCO. Prior to his appointment in Portugal, Galiev chaired the Foreign Ministry’s International Information Committee from 2022. He holds the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the First Class and is fluent in French and English.

Talgat Shaldanbay, Kazakhstan’s ambassador to Jordan, has also been appointed ambassador to Iraq and Palestine concurrently.

Earlier, U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan Daniel Rosenblum announced his resignation, later sharing his views on the potential direction of U.S. policy towards Kazakhstan as a new head of the diplomatic mission takes over.