Kazakhstan’s First President Nursultan Nazarbayev is ringing in his 80th birthday on July 6th, as the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan also celebrated its birthday the same day, reported Nazarbayev’s press service.
The founding father of the Central Asian nation received congratulations over the phone from Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, Kyrgyzstan President Sooronbai Jeenbekov, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Putin recorded a congratulation video saying he “sincerely values and is proud of his old friendship” with Nazarbayev.
“Since the very first meeting, our relationship has been built on kindness and friendship, which has always been characterized by its openness, mutual trust, and readiness to seek solutions to any issue, even complicated ones,” said Putin in a video.
Putin noted that Nazarbayev had great authority in his country and in Russia.
Nazarbayev also received telegrams from world leaders, including Afghanistan’s President Mohammad Ashraf Gani, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Czech Republic President Milosh Zeman, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Moldovan President Igor Dodo, Prince of Monaco Albert II, Singaporean President Halima Yacoub and Spain’s King Felipe VI.
“I often recall a time when we worked together closely for the sake of Chinese and Kazakh relations. I appreciate your contribution to the development of cooperation between China and Kazakhstan. You have always been a good friend of mine,” said Хi in the telegram.
On the same day, the capital hosted an online opening ceremony of Nazarbayev’s monument in front of the National Defence University named after Nazarbayev. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart also attended the online event, noting Nazarbayev has paved the “strategic path of development of our independent state and united the people in achieving a common goal.”
