Financial TimesFinancial Times

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the Kazakh president confronting a nation in turmoil

By Nastassia Astrasheuskaya

07 Jan 2022 · 4 min read

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev may have been Kazakhstan’s president since 2019, but he only really ascended to power on Wednesday.

That is when he assumed the role of head of the nation’s security council, replacing a political goliath, 81-year-old Nursultan Nazarbayev, his predecessor as president who led central Asia’s biggest economy for three decades.

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