Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev (Kazakh: Нұрсұлтан Әбішұлы Назарбаев [Nûrsûltan Äbîshûlâ Nazarbayev]; Russian: Нурсултан Абишевич Назарбаев [Nursultan Abishyevic Nazarbayev] (born 6 July 1940 in Chemolgan, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union) has served as the President of Kazakhstan since the Fall of the Soviet Union and the nation's independence in 1991. His presidency is widely seen as authoritarian, antidemocratic and without regards to human rights issues.
In 1984 Nazarbayev became the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, working under Dinmukhamed Kunayev, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan. He served as First Secretary of the Kazakh Communist Party from 1989 to 1991. While previously having atheistic views in the Soviet era, Nazarbayev has exerted effort to highlight his Muslim heritage by traveling on a hajj and supporting mosque renovations and at the same time attempting to combat Islamic terrorism in Kazakhstan.
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