​TURKPA mission to observe presidential election in Kazakhstan

NUR-SULTAN, June 7, 2019 — The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Beibut Atamkulov recently held a meeting with the Head of the Observation Mission of the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic Speaking Countries (TURKPA) to the presidential election in Kazakhstan and Secretary General of TURKPA Altynbek Mamaiusupov and TURKPA MPs.

During the meeting, the Foreign Minister discussed the preparations for the upcoming presidential election and noted that a strong competition between the candidates was expected. “Kazakhstan is a democratic state, and the upcoming elections will be held honestly, openly and fairly,” said Mr. Atamkulov.

The Foreign Minister also told the guests about the socio-economic development of Kazakhstan, including the new state programs to support young people and large families.

The meeting noted that cooperation between Turkic-speaking states was at a new stage of development and Kazakhstan attached great importance to Turkic cooperation. TURKPA is considered one of the pillars of the Turkic Council and its contribution to the development of inter-parliamentary cooperation is significant for all Turkic states.

Mr. Mamaiusupov outlined the activities of the TURKPA Mission in monitoring the presidential election. In addition to the city of Nur-Sultan, observers will visit several regions of Kazakhstan. “There is an active preparation for the elections going on, the participation of seven candidates gives a wide choice for Kazakh voters. The close attention of the world community shows a great interest in Kazakhstan and the processes taking place in your country,” said the Head of the Mission.

At the same time, the TURKPA Secretary General talked about the current activities of the Assembly and plans for the future, in particular, regarding preparations for the International Conference of Female Parliamentarians of the Turkic world, to be held this June in Baku.

TURKPA was established at the initiative of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan - Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev. TURKPA currently comprises Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey. Headquartered in Baku, TURKPA is an important platform for the development of dialogue and mutual understanding on topical issues of inter-parliamentary cooperation between member states of the Assembly.