2017 marks 26 years of Kazakhstan’s sovereignty. In 1991, Kazakhstan declared its independence from the Soviet Union.

On October 25, 1990, Kazakhstan drafted a Declaration of Independence, which eventually led the Kazakh people to create their own Constitution. The country declared independence on December 16, 1991.

This year Kazakhstan is celebrating its 26th anniversary as an independent nation. Over the years, Kazakhstan has demonstrated its commitment to multilateralism, global peace-building, security and development, as well as its efficiency as an impartial honest broker working for the common benefit. At the initiative of its founding President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, the country has launched meaningful international processes, including the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) and the triennial Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. It has also chaired key organisations such as the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and has been busy promoting valuable global and regional initiatives such as the establishment of a world free from nuclear weapons and the Eurasian Economic Union. In just over two decades, Kazakhstan has managed to become an economic and geopolitical success story. The country has also illustrated its willingness to be a trustworthy partner in a region that faces many challenges.