Rakhat Aliyev

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rakhat Aliyev. Photo by Mikhail Evstafiev

Rakhat Mukhtaruly Aliyev (Kazakh: Рахат Мұхтарұлы Әлиев; born 1962) served as the First Vice Foreign Minister in the government of Kazakhstan until February 2007 when he was appointed to his second tour as Kazakhstan's Ambassador to Austria. Until June 2007, Aliyev was married to Dariga Nazarbayeva, the eldest daughter of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

1 Accusations
2 Divorce
3 External links
4 References

[edit] Accusations

Aliyev is the prime suspect in the kidnapping of two top managers of the bank "NurBank" Zholdas Temiraliyev (Kazakh: Жолдас Темірәлиев) and Abilmazhen Ghylymov (Kazakh: Әбілмәжен Ғылымов). He is also reported to have been involved in many scandals and corruption cases, the most prominent of these taking place in 2001, when Aliyev was accused of being behind a coup plot to remove his father-in-law Nursultan Nazarbayev from power. A further scandal erupted around him when he was linked to the murder of a political opponent, Altynbek Sarsenbayev, in February 2007. Soon afterwards a retired KNB officer went public with claims that Rakhat had been involved in the killing, which to this day remains 'unsolved'.

On May 27, 2007, the Presecutor General of Republic of Kazakhstan issued an international warrant for the arrest of Rakhat Aliyev. He was arrested in Austria on 1 June and later released on bail. He is currently seeking asylum in Austria. ^[1] and was released on June 3, 2007.

[edit] Divorce

On June 13, 2007, Aliyev was divorced from his wife, Dariga. He claims that the divorce was carried out without his knowledge or consent. ^[2]

"Today I received the information where it says I am divorced," Aliyev said Monday. "They stuck a fax with the information through the fence at my home at a quarter past midnight. ... They even falsified my signature on the document."

Aliyev has three children with Nazarbayev's eldest daughter, Dariga. "I spoke to my wife on the telephone," Aliyev said, showing papers saying his wife had asked for the divorce. "She said: 'My father pressurised me very much,' and she couldn't do anything."