Former president Nazarbayev’s monument removed in Astana 

A monument to former president Nursultan Nazarbayev has been removed from the National Defence University grounds in Astana, the Defence Ministry said on Friday. 

The Ministry said the monument had been removed because the University no longer bore Nazarbayev’s name. 

“In this connection, it has been decided to transfer the first president’s monument from the University grounds to the state military history museum,” the Ministry said. 

The monument is currently being kept in a storage facility, it said.  

The University trains officers for the Kazakh army. In 2018 it was named after Nazarbayev. In October last year, the institution reversed the decision. 

The monument was unveiled in 2020 and depicted Nazarbayev standing on a pedestal wearing a military uniform.  

It is the second monument to Nazarbayev that has been removed in the country since he stepped down as president in 2019. 

In January 2022 anti-government protesters knocked down a monument to Nazarbayev in Taldykorgan. 

Monuments to Nazarbayev are still standing in Astana, Almaty and Turkestan. 

In 2023 Nazarbayev was stripped of all his official positions and titles and almost all the legal protections that he had secured for himself before handing over power to his successor Tokayev. 

• 20
• 26