Mukhtar Tleuberdi Returns as Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev appointed Mukhtar Tleuberdi as foreign minister on September 2. One of Kazakhstan’s most experienced diplomats is returning to a post he previously held from 2019 to 2023. For the past three years, Tleuberdi has represented Kazakhstan in Austria and at international organizations in Vienna. Tleuberdi replaces Yermek Kosherbayev, who had headed the Foreign Ministry since September 2025. The change comes as a new administration takes shape following the election of the Kurultai. Kosherbayev spent less than a year in the post, but his tenure coincided with an intensification of Kazakhstan’s relationship with the United States. In July, he discussed with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio Kazakh oil exports through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, cooperation on critical minerals, U.S. investment, and preparations for Tokayev’s visit to the United States. Experience Returns Tleuberdi began his diplomatic career in 1993 and went on to hold ambassadorial and senior Foreign Ministry posts, including as ambassador to Malaysia and Switzerland. He returned to Astana as first deputy foreign minister in 2016 before taking over the ministry in September 2019. From January 2021 until April 2023, he also served as deputy prime minister. His first term as foreign minister coincided with one of the most challenging periods for Kazakhstan’s foreign policy. After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Astana maintained close political and economic relations with Moscow while continuing to develop ties with China, the United States, and the European Union. In the context of the war in Ukraine, Kazakhstan continued to advocate respect for the principle of states’ territorial integrity. Tleuberdi represented that position in talks with the country’s major foreign partners. In 2022, his foreign travel itinerary included the United States, China, the United Kingdom, Germany, Turkey, Japan, and Central Asian states. Tleuberdi left the government in April 2023 and was succeeded as foreign minister by Murat Nurtleu. Several months later, he was appointed Kazakhstan’s ambassador to Austria, while also representing Kazakhstan at international organizations based there, including the OSCE and IAEA. Tleuberdi now returns to the Foreign Ministry amid a restructuring of Kazakhstan’s political system. His appointment is among the first major personnel decisions following the start of work by the Kurultai, the country’s new unicameral parliament, which replaced the previous bicameral legislature. On August 31, Tokayev appointed Yerlan Karin as vice president, a position created by Kazakhstan’s 2026 constitutional reform. Olzhas Bektenov remained prime minister, while Aida Balayeva moved from the government to become deputy chair of the Security Council. Tleuberdi’s second term begins with a complex foreign policy agenda. Kazakhstan is simultaneously expanding economic ties with China, developing cooperation with the United States and the EU on critical minerals, seeking to diversify its oil export routes, and maintaining close relations with Russia.