Bolat Nurgaliyev
Bolat Kabdylkhamitovich Nurgaliyev (Template:Lang-kz; Template:Lang-ru; Template:Zh) is a Kazakh diplomat and the current Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for protracted conflicts.
Born July 25, 1951, Nurgaliyev studied foreign languages at the State Pedagogical Institute in Tselinograd (now Astana). He joined the Soviet Foreign Ministry, and served from 1980-1992 throughout South Asia. He then was the director of the Department of International Security and Arms Control Department of the Kazakh Foreign Ministry for four years, until he was appointed Ambassador to the United States in 1996. In 2001, he became Kazakhstan's ambassador to South Korea, and in 2003 the ambassador to Japan. He was appointed Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on January 1, 2007.<ref name=BIO>Secretary-General SCO webpage</ref> He was appointed as the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for protracted conflicts for the 2010 Kazakhstani Chairmanship of the OSCE.<ref name=BIO2>Special Representative for Protracted Conflicts OSCE webpage</ref>
Shortly after taking office, Nurgaliyev commented that "The most important task for the SCO now is to further crackdown on terrorism, separatism and extremism".<ref name=COMMENT>New SCO Secretary-General Prioritizes Peace and Security Xinhua News Agency</ref>
