Foreign leaders congratulate Nursultan Nazarbayev on reelection

Last Sunday, April 26, the people of Kazakhstan made their choice. The incumbent president Nursultan Nazarbayev, 74, has been re-elected for the fifth successive term. Nursultan Nazarbayev gathered 8,833,250 votes or 97.75%. The candidate from the Communist Party Turgun Syzdykov ended up with 145,765 votes or 1.61%, and self-nominee Abelgazi Kusainov received 57,718 voted or 0.64%. The Central Election Commission officially announced that voter turnout was 95.21%.

After the announcement of the election results, foreign leaders began congratulating the Kazakh President on his reelection, Tengrinews reports.

Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, Kazakhstan's largest neighbor, was first to congratulate his Kazakh counterpart. Putin emphasized in the telegram that the election results confirmed the high authority the incumbent president enjoyed. According to him, by making their choice the people of Kazakhstan demonstrated their vast support of “the course of the president towards accelerated socio-economic development of the country, active participation in the Eurasian integration and the strengthening of the strategic partnership with Russia.”

Vladimir Putin stressed Russia’s readiness to continue expanding the bilateral ties and cooperation within the frameworks of the Eurasian Economic Union and other international organizations “in the interests of the people of Kazakhstan and Russia to ensure peace, stability and security on the continent”.

Kyrgyzstan’s President Almazbek Atambayev also sent a telegram with congratulations to Nursultan Nazarbayev. The confident win of Nursultan Nazarbayev once again showed that the people of Kazakhstan recognize his achievements, and trust his political and economic reforms aimed at ensuring sustainable development of Kazakhstan and improving its image on the international arena, Almazbek Atambayev wrote in the telegram.

“I am convinced that in the future we will together develop our brotherly relations, cooperation and strategic partnership between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan,” the telegram said.

President of Kyrgyzstan wished Nursultan Nazarbayev “good health and great success in the implementation of all the goals at the responsible post” and wished Kazakhstan’s people “peace and prosperity”.

Then, Nursultan Nazarbayev had a phone conversation with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, during which Lukashenko congratulated the Kazakh leader on his reelection. Besides, the two leaders also exchanged opinions on a wide range of issues related to the bilateral cooperation and the forthcoming meeting in Moscow on the eve of the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the Victory Day.

Hungarian Prime Minister also called Nazarbayev and conveyed his warm congratulations on the convincing victory in the elections and wished success in the implementation of planned the large-scale reforms in Kazakhstan.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilkham Aliyev was the next leader to congratulate the Kazakh President. The two leaders also dwelt on the course of implementation of the agreements reached during their meeting at the fourth Caspian Summit held in Astrakhan on September 29, 2014.

President of Serbia Tomislav Nikolic also called Nursultan Nazarbayev to congratulate him. He acknowledged that Nazarbayev’s win in the elections was convincing. Nazarbayev, in turn, expressed his hope that the chairmanship of Serbia in the OSCE this year would facilitate the settlement of the crisis in Ukraine and foster the development of a comprehensive dialogue between the member-states of the OSCE.

During the phone conversation, the two leaders also confirmed their readiness to further enhance the friendly relations between Kazakhstan and Serbia.

Nursultan Nazarbayev also had a phone conversation with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The Crown Prince congratulated Nazarbayev on his convincing victory in the elections and expressed confidence in the successful implementation of the large-scale reforms aimed at progress and prosperity of Kazakhstan. During the phone conversation, the sides also discussed measures to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in trade, economy, investments, cultural and humanitarian spheres.

On April 28 Chinese leader Xi Jinping congratulated Nursultan Nazarbayev on his victory in the presidential elections during a phone conversation initiated by the Chinese side. The Chinese President praised the contribution Nazarbayev made into strengthen the independence and stable development of Kazakhstan.

During the conversation, the two leaders marked the high potential of bilateral cooperation. In addition, Nursultan Nazarbayev and his Chinese counterpart emphasised that the two counties shared similar positions on important regional and international issues.

In the end of the conversation, Xi Jinping invited the President of Kazakhstan to visit China this year.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also congratulated Nazarbayev expressing his confidence in the further development of the bilteral cooperation between Turkey and Kazakhstan, which is "based on common linguistic, cultural and historical ties". "Under your leadership, Kazakhstan will successfully continue implementing its initiatives aimed at improving the well-being of the people," Erdogan said in his telegram.

Nazarbayev also had a phone conversation with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak today, during which Najib Tun Razak congratulated the Kazakh President on his reelection and then the two leaders discussed in detail the issues related to the further strengthening of the bilateral cooperation in political, economic, trade, investment, cultural and humanitarian spheres.

By Assel Satubaldina