Kazakhstan has been nominated for a nonpermanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for 2017-2018. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has announced its support along with Saudi Arabia and other Arabian Gulf states.
Kazakhstan’s ambassador to the U.N., Bakyt Batyrshayev, held an event in the capital celebrating the country’s candidacy, asserting its exemplary record as a responsible member supporting international peace.
OIC Assistant Secretary-General Mohammad Naeem Khan said the organization passed a resolution to nominate Kazakhstan earlier this year and requested the support of other OIC member states.
Kazakhstan has accomplished many noteworthy initiatives. In 2011, the country hosted a ministerial summit in which two significant resolutions were passed establishing the OIC food security commission and the OIC Human Rights Commission.
Kazakhstan, a first-time candidate, has provided financial and humanitarian aid to Somalia and to Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon, and has assisted the OIC Special Program for the development of Africa.
Kazakhstan chaired the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 2010 and hosted the Astana Summit in December 2010, the Ministerial Conference of the OIC in 2011, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building in Asia 2012 and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in 2011.