Mukhtar Qapashuly Altynbayev ( Kazakh: Мұхтар Қапашұлы Алтынбаев, ''Mūhtar Qapaşūly Altynbaev''; born December 10, 1945, in

Karaganda Karaganda (, ; ), also known as Karagandy (, ; ; ) (also sometimes romanized as Qaraghandy), is a major city in central Kazakhstan and the capital of the Karaganda Region. It is the fifth most populous city in the country, with a population o ...

Kazakh SSR The Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Kazakhstan, the Kazakh SSR, KSSR, or simply Kazakhstan, was one of the transcontinental constituent republics of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Located in northern Centr ...

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

) is a Kazakh military officer and politician who holds the rank of

General of the Army Army general or General of the army is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the French Revolutionary System. Army general is normally the highest rank used in peacetime. In countries that adopt the general officer fou ...

. He served as the

Minister of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

of Kazakhstan twice, most recently from December 2001 to 10 January 2007.

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Karim Massimov Karim Qajymqanuly Massimov (, , ; born 15 June 1965)Kazakhstan moves to ...

replaced him with former Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov in a political shakeup.

Early life and career

He was born on 10 December 1945 in the city of

. His father was the director of the Karaganda Mine #12. He began his labor activity in 1962 as a shaft sinker in Karaganda, having worked until 1969. In 1969 he entered the Armavir Higher Military School of Air Defense Pilots, where he graduated from as a pilot, in the

Soviet Air Forces The Soviet Air Forces (, VVS SSSR; literally "Military Air Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"; initialism VVS, sometimes referred to as the "Red Air Force") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Sovie ...

. He later became a commander of a fighter aviation regiment in the city of Perm. In 1982, he became a student of the Zhukov Air and Space Defence Academy, graduating in 1985. After graduating, he was appointed deputy commander of the 24th Air Defense Corps in the city of

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

(in the

Turkmen SSR The Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Turkmenistan, the Turkmen SSR, TuSSR, Turkmenistan, or Turkmenia, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union located in Soviet Central Asia, ...

) within the Turkestan Military District. After transforming the corps into the 17th Air Defence Division, he became its commander.

Kazakh military career

From 1992 to 1993, he was the Commander of the Air Defense Corps and Deputy Minister of Defense. in October 1996, he became the Minister of Defense. On 8 December 2001, he was again appointed to the post of Minister of Defense. Kazakh President

Nursultan Nazarbayev Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev (born 6 July 1940) is a Kazakhstani politician who served as the first president of Kazakhstan from 1991 to 2019. He also held the special title of Elbasy from 2010 to 2022 and chairman of the Security Council of ...

had dismissed Altynbayev from his post as Defense Minister in August 1999 along with Nurtai Abykayev, the head of the National Security Committee. According to ''

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

'', they were dismissed for "failing to properly investigate" the illegal sale of

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nicknames include: "''Balalaika''", because its planf ...

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domina ...

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

. In March 2000 he became commander of Kazakhstan's Air Defense Force.Kazakhstan: Abikayev is suddenly the number-two man
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty

2007 political shakeup and subsequent roles

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Nazarbayev nominated

Karim Massimov Karim Qajymqanuly Massimov (, , ; born 15 June 1965)Kazakhstan moves to ...

, who at the time served as Deputy Prime Minister, to succeed Daniyal Akhmetov as Prime Minister on 9 January 2007. Akhmetov resigned on 8 January without explanation. Analysts attributed Akhmetov's political downfall to the President's criticism of his administrative oversight of the economy.Kazakhstan moves to name new PM
United Press International
USA Today The

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

confirmed the nomination on 10 January. Massimov appointed Akhmetov to Defense Minister, replacing Altynbayev, and appointed

Aslan Musin Aslan Esbolaiuly Musin (, ''Aslan Esbolaiūly Musin''; born 2 January 1955
Embassy of Kazakhstan to the USA and Canada) is a ...

, formerly the Minister of Economy and Budget, as Deputy Prime Minister. A few days later, he was appointed as the

Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Afghanistan) * Chief of the General Staff (Albania) * C ...

, a position he would serve in until 2010.

Post-military

From April 2010 to July 2017, he was a Deputy of the

Senate of Kazakhstan The Senate of Kazakhstan (, ''Қазақстан Парламентінің Сенаты'', ) is the upper house of two chambers in Kazakhstan's legislature, known as the Parliament (''Parlamenti''). The Senate is composed of elected members: ...

. His son Muslim Mukhtarovich Altynbaev served as the Deputy Defense Minister to

Saken Zhasuzakov Saken Adilkhanuly Zhasuzakov (, ''Säken Ädılhanūly Jasūzaqov'', ; born 27 October 1957) is a Kazakh politician and Colonel General in the Kazakh Ground Forces. He was Minister of Defense of Kazakhstan from September 2016 until August 2018. ...

and

Nurlan Yermekbayev Nurlan Baiuzakuly Yermekbayev () is a Kazakh politician, diplomat and Lieutenant General in the Kazakh Ground Forces, Ground Forces who had been the Minister of Defense (Kazakhstan), Minister of Defense of Kazakhstan from 7 August 2018 to 31 Augu ...

from 2017 to 2020.

Honours and awards

Kazakhstan

* People's Hero of Kazakhstan * Order Otan * Order Barys, 2nd class * Medal "For Meritorious Service" (Kazakhstan), 3rd class * Astana Medal * Medal "10th Anniversary of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan" * Medal "10 years of independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan" * Medal "10th Anniversary of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan" * Medal "10 Years of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan" * Medal "50 years of the

Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome is a spaceport operated by Russia within Kazakhstan. Located in the Kazakh city of Baikonur, it is the largest operational space launch facility in terms of area. All Russian Human spaceflight, crewed spaceflights are l ...

" * Medal "For strengthening military cooperation" * Medal "10 years of Astana" * Medal "20 years of independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan"

Soviet Union

Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * H ...

, 3rd class * Medal "Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR" * Jubilee Medal "60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" * Jubilee Medal "70 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" *

Medal "For Impeccable Service" The Medal "For Impeccable Service" () was a Soviet Union, Soviet military award for long service awarded to deserving members of the military personnel of the Soviet Armed Forces, of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Soviet Union), Interior Minist ...

1st, 2nd and 3rd classes

Russian Federation

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds and efforts have been aimed at ...

* Two medals "For strengthening military cooperation"

Former USSR

Kyrgyzstan

* Medal "For strengthening military cooperation" * Medal "10th Anniversary of the Armed Forces of the Kyrgyz Republic" * Medal "For Distinction in Military Service"

Ukraine

* Medal "10th Anniversary of the

Armed Forces of Ukraine The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are the Military, military forces of Ukraine. All military and security forces, including the Armed Forces, are under the command of the president of Ukraine and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rad ...

Moldova

* Medal "For strengthening military commonwealth"

Other

* Order of Peter the Great, 1st class ( Academy of Security, Defense and Law Enforcement) * Honorary Citizen of the City of

(2005) * Honorary Citizen of the

Karaganda Region Karaganda Region (; ) is a region of Kazakhstan. Its capital is Karaganda. The region borders Akmola and Pavlodar Region to the north, Abai Region to the east, Jetisu, Almaty, and Zhambyl Regions to the south, and Kostanay and Ulytau regio ...

(2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Altynbayev, Mukhtar 1945 births Living people People from Karaganda Heroes of Kazakhstan Ministers of defence of Kazakhstan Chiefs of the General Staff (Kazakhstan) Zhukov Air and Space Defence Academy alumni