View source for Kanat Saudabayev

[[File:Kanat Saudabayev.jpg|thumb|Kanat Saudabayev]]
'''Kanat Bekmyrzayevich Saudabayev''' ([[Kazakh language]]: Қанат Бекмырзаұлы Саудабаев, ''Qanat Bekmırzaulı Sawdabayev'') is a [[Kazakhstan]]i politician who was born next to [[Alma-Ata]], [[Kazakhstan]] in 1946. Saudabayev has served as the Secretary of State of the Republic of Kazakhstan since 15 May 2007. On September 4, 2009, he was appointed Secretary of State - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, taking on the responsibility for spearheading Kazakhstan's preparation for and holding of the rotating chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 2010.
 
The Secretary of State operates immediately under the leadership of the President of Kazakhstan, and is directly responsible to the President. The Secretary of State develops proposals on main dimensions of domestic and foreign policies for the President. At the request of the President, the Secretary of State represents his interests in international affairs, in relations with the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, state bodies, political parties and other public organizations.

He served as Kazakhstan's [[ambassador]] to the [[United States]] from December 2000 until the [[Kazakhstan political shakeup of 2007|political shakeup of 2007]], when [[President of Kazakhstan|President]] [[Nursultan Nazarbayev]] promoted him to the position of the Secretary of State. 

In Washington, Saudabayev brought an important contribution strengthening the strategic partnership between Kazakhstan and the USA in the spheres of security, nuclear disarmament, economy and democratic development.

Before his appointment to the U.S., Ambassador Saudabayev had a long career in the fields of government, diplomacy and the arts.

In 1999 and 2000, he served as the head of the Prime Minister’s Office with the rank of Cabinet member.
 
In the 1990s, he served as Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to the [[United Kingdom]] of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and to [[Turkey]]. During 1994, as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Saudabayev worked to implement the developing foreign policy of the young independent state. He was Kazakhstan’s signatory to NATO’s Partnership for Peace agreement.

In the fall of 1991, President [[Mikhail S. Gorbachev]] appointed Kanat Saudabayev as the Soviet Ambassador to Turkey. As he was planning to take up his post, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. Within weeks Kanat Saudabayev was on his way to Turkey again, but as the first Ambassador ever from an independent Kazakhstan.

Working in Moscow from September 1991 through May 1992 as the Plenipotentiary Representative of the [[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic]] to the USSR, and then, after the Soviet Union collapsed, to the [[Russian Federation]], Kanat Saudabayev was a direct participant in and a witness to many crucial events of that time.

Before entering the diplomatic service, Kanat Saudabayev had a distinguished cultural career, serving as Kazakhstan’s Chairman of the State Committee of Culture with the rank of Minister, Chairman of the State Film Committee, and Deputy Culture Minister. He began his career as a theatrical producer.
 
Kanat Saudabayev holds degrees from the [[Leningrad Institute of Culture]] and the [[Academy of Public Sciences of the Central Committee of Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]. He has a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the [[Kazakh State University]] and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the [[Moscow State University]]. His service has been recognized by the orders of [[Order of Otan|Otan]]<!--Kazakh Wiki says he's connected with the party, but doesn't mention this award--> (Fatherland), Kazakhstan’s highest state award<!-- according to another article, [[Hero of Kazakhstan]] is the highest state award-->, and [[Order of Kurmet|Kurmet]] (Distinguished Service).{{fact|date=March 2017}}

<ref name=AMBASSADOR>[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications//chiefs/chiefs91.html Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments] Central Intelligence Agency</ref><ref name=PROFILE>[http://www.homestead.com/prosites-kazakhembus/ambassador.html Kanat B. Saudabayev] Embassy of Kazakhstan to the United States and Canada</ref><ref name=SAUD>[http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/0/28.html?id_issue=11658497 Saudabayev appointed Kazakh Security Council secretary] Interfax</ref>

Kanat Saudabayev is married with three children.<ref name=PROFILE/>

==See also==
*[[Government of Kazakhstan]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.homestead.com/prosites-kazakhembus/ambassador.html]

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{{succession box|title=Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the United States|before=[[Bolat Nurgaliyev]]|after=?|years=14 February 2001 to 15 May 2007}}
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[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Dughlats]]
[[Category:Government ministers of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Foreign ministers of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Kazakhstan to the United States]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Kazakhstan to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Kazakhstan to Turkey]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Kurmet]]
[[Category:Al-Farabi University alumni]]