Tokayev reappoints Mukhtar Tleuberdi as Kazakhstan's foreign minister

September 2, 2026 at 03:42 PM2 min

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Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a decree on September 2 reappointing Mukhtar Tleuberdi as foreign minister. Tleuberdi, who previously held the post from 2019 to 2023, replaces Yermek Kosherbayev. The appointment returns one of Kazakhstan's most experienced diplomats to the ministry he first led in September 2019.

Key Facts

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed decree No. 1423 on September 2, 2026, appointing Mukhtar Tleuberdi as foreign minister and releasing him from his previous post.
Tleuberdi replaces Yermek Kosherbayev, who had headed the Foreign Ministry since September 2025.
Tleuberdi previously served as foreign minister from September 2019 to April 2023, and from January 2021 he also held the post of deputy prime minister.
Since August 2023, Tleuberdi had been Kazakhstan's ambassador to Austria and permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna.
Tleuberdi began his diplomatic career in 1993 as an attaché in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Appointment Decree

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed decree No. 1423 on September 2, 2026, appointing Mukhtar Tleuberdi as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The decree also released Tleuberdi from his previous position as ambassador to Austria and permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna. Tleuberdi replaces Yermek Kosherbayev, who had led the Foreign Ministry since September 2025. Kosherbayev's tenure lasted less than a year and coincided with intensified Kazakhstan–U.S. relations, including July talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on oil exports and critical minerals.

Tleuberdi's Diplomatic Career

Mukhtar Tleuberdi was born on June 30, 1968, in the Turkestan region and graduated from the philosophy and economics faculty of Kazakh State University named after S.M. Kirov. He began his diplomatic service in 1993 as an attaché in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan. Tleuberdi served in Kazakh embassies in South Korea, Israel, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Vatican. He first became foreign minister in September 2019 and from January 2021 to April 2023 also served as deputy prime minister. In August 2023, he was appointed ambassador to Austria and permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna.