Kazakh diplomats celebrate 25th anniversary

Today, 25 years have passed since Regulation "On the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan" was adopted by the Kazakh President's Decree in 1992. The current Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan writes in his article "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Between the Past and the Future", published in "Kazakhstanskaya Pravda" newspaper, that the President had defined the key functions of the new Foreign Ministry, the most important of which was "to ensure protection of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, security and inviolability of the Republic of Kazakhstan's borders and its interests in the international arena by using the instruments and methods of diplomacy".

Currently, Kazakhstan has established diplomatic relations with 182 countries of the world. Kazakhstan has 57 embassies abroad, 11 consulate-generals, 3 diplomatic missions, 16 consulates and 4 permanent missions to international organizations. As to Kazakhstan, there are 69 embassies, 19 consulates, 27 representative offices of international organizations.

Over the last quarter-century 285 of our citizens have been honored to be appointed extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassadors of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Our compatriot Kassym-Jomart Tokayev served as Under Secretary-General, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva. Moreover, the list can also be complemented with such prominent diplomats as the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Kanat Saudabayev, Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Bolat Nurgaliyev, Secretary General of the Eurasian Economic Community Tair Mansurov and Secretary General of the Economic Cooperation Organisation Askhat Orazbay to name but a few.