On October 28, 2021, the First President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev met with Crown Prince of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The meeting took place in Abu Dhabi.
The press-released issued by the Library was reprinted by a number of media; still, no one has asked the question - what has made the Elbasy take a trip to such a far off land?
According to the Library’s press-release, Nursultan Nazarbayev flew to the UAE in order to meet with a person who does not hold any highest-rank governmental positions but serves as the de-facto ruler of both the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the UAE as a whole.
If this information is correct, it means that Nursultan Nazarbayev has met with his unofficial colleague in terms of the place they both hold in the state power system.
But then, the second question arises – why did he meet with this man?
In order to celebrate the success of the recent visit of the Kazakh governmental delegation headed by Prime Minister Askar Mamin?
To congratulate the Prince on the 50th anniversary (“Golden Jubilee”) of the state and grant him the prize for a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World and Global Security?
Undoubtedly, the aforementioned things did play their part. However, were they really Nursultan Nazarbayev’s primary goals? Remember, we are talking about that same Nursultan Nazarbayev who has turned 80 this year and whose state of health raises a lot of questions to which there are no answers. We are certain that his primary goals were different.
In view of this, let us, once again, quote the Facebook post of a former Kazakh diplomat and, currently, a civil activist Kazbek Beysebayev.
“For your reference. This is the country the First President used to visit more than any other. Here is what’s written on the MFA website: “A firm foundation of the bilateral relations had been laid following the official and working visits of the First President of the RK – the Elbasy to the UAE (1998, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) as well as the return official visit of the President of the UAE Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan to Kazakhstan in 2008 and his frequent visits in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013”.
We at KZ.expert believe that, since 2008, the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the “Leader of the Nation” has been visiting the UAE on an annual basis (except for the year 2015 and the year 2020) to see doctors and undergo the necessary medical procedures. And there is no guarantee that these doctors work in the UAE permanently. They may fly there especially on the occasion of examining such a respected patient.
We cannot say that’s wrong with Nursultan Nazarbayev although, at some point, rumours persisted that the First President had an oncological condition due to which he endured a complicated operation.
From the perspective of internal policy, the Elbasy’s visit to the UAE can be assessed in an ambivalent manner.
On one hand, it shows that, physically, Nursultan Nazarbayev is quite fit to fly to rather remote countries and tolerate their rather harsh climate. On the other hand, this can also serve as an indication that the First President’s state of health has worsened to such an extent that he and his doctors had to agree to take such a long flight even though they rescheduled it for the fall.
The fact that the Library is systemically avoiding revealing any (even brief) information on its main resident’s state of health speaks in favour of the latter.
Apart from that, the circle of people allowed to see Nursultan Nazarbayev both literally and figuratively has shrunk dramatically of late.
It is very likely that the people currently responsible for the Elbasy’s everyday life and security are strongly afraid of something. And the fact that the leaks from the Library have practically stopped (which is highly uncharacteristic of Kazakhstan) serves as a manifestation of it.
