VZCZCXRO2559
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW
RUEHLA RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNEH RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHPW RUEHROV
RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTA #2375/01 3360232
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 010232Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY ASTANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4001
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE 0876
RUCNCLS/SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0281
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0983
RUEAWJL/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RHMCSUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFAAA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC 0443
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC 0358
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 002375 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR INL/AAE, SCA/CEN, SCA/RA 
 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR SNAR KCRM KZ
SUBJECT:  KAZAKHSTAN:  CHANGES IN THE MINISTRY OF INTERIOR 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  Vice-Minister of Internal Affairs Alik 
Shpekbayev has been appointed to a position in the presidential 
administration.  Shpekbayev was one of post's closest interlocutors 
in the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) and the only Vice-Minister 
to have risen through the ranks of the MVD.  Though not officially a 
promotion, this appointment bodes well for Shpekbayev's future in 
the Kazakhstani law enforcement system.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶3.  (U) According to press reports, President Nazarbayev appointed 
Vice-Minister of Interior Alik Shpekbayev Head of the Law 
Enforcement System Department of the Presidential Administration, 
making Shpekbayev one of the lead presidential advisors on law 
enforcement issues.  Although they are separate divisions of the 
Presidential Administration, the head of the Secretariat of the 
Security Council also has oversight of the Law Enforcement System 
Department. 
 
¶4.  (U) Shpekbayev was formerly Vice-Minister for Internal Affairs 
and was responsible for some of the most difficult and complex 
sections of the MVD:  the Committee of Administrative Police, the 
Committee of Road Police, the Legal Department, and Interpol. 
Shpekbayev was also the only Vice-Minister in the MVD who rose 
through the ranks and was not a political appointee, which not only 
made him the most experienced Vice-Minister, but also the most 
respected by career employees of the MVD. 
 
BACKGROUND ON THE SECURITY COUNCIL 
 
¶5.  (U) The Security Council is a consultative and advisory body 
established by President Nazarbayev.  The Council advises the 
president on all areas and includes the chairmen of both the upper 
and lower houses of Parliament, Prime Minister, Chairman of the 
Committee on National Security (KNB), and the Ministers of Foreign 
Affairs and Defense.  The Secretary of the Security Council is 
appointed by the president and manages the Secretariat of the 
Security Council and the Law Enforcement System Section of the 
Presidential Administration.  The current Secretary, Kairbek 
Suleimenov, also rose through the ranks of the MVD.  From 1972 
through 1987, he was an investigator in several prosecutor generals' 
offices and police departments.  After Kazakhstan's independence, 
Suleimenov was First Vice-Minister of Internal Affairs for one year 
before becoming State Councilor on Law Enforcement and Judicial 
Issues.  Suleimenov served twice as Minister of Internal Affairs. 
 
BIO NOTES 
 
¶6.  (U) Alik Shpekbayev was born on July 4, 1957, in the Alma-Ata 
(Almaty) Oblast of Kazakhstan.  He graduated from the Karaganda 
Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) in 1987 and 
the MVD Academy of the USSR in 1992. He has a Master's degree in 
jurisprudence.  From 1980 to 1984, Shpekbayev served in the Alma-Ata 
Oblast as a detachment commander at a prison camp and later of a 
jail.  He later became Chief of the Balkash Regional Department of 
Internal Affairs and Chief of Administration of the Department of 
State Investigative Committee of the Alma-Ata Oblast.  In 1997, he 
was transferred to the Central MVD and was appointed head of the 
City Administration of the Internal Affairs of the Almaty Oblast. 
Since November 2003, he has served as Vice Minister of the MVD.  He 
has been the recipient of numerous awards and medals. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) COMMENT:  Though this appointment is not officially a 
promotion because Shpekbayev is moving from the Ministry to the 
Presidential Administration, his career is clearly advancing 
rapidly.  As the Vice-Minister in charge of many of the most 
important areas within the MVD and much of the interaction with the 
international community, he brings a great deal of experience to the 
Presidential Administration.  With this appointment, Shpekbayev is 
likely being groomed to be the next Minister of Internal Affairs. 
It is a very common procedure for future ministers to be moved to 
the Presidential Administration in preparation for their future 
appointment.  Though rumors often abound about changes in the MVD, 
President Nazarbayev has consistently denied such rumors.  It is not 
yet clear that Shpekbayev is next in line to become Minister of 
Internal Affairs or, if he is, how long he would serve in the 
Presidential Administration before he would be considered ready to 
take the helm at the MVD.  END COMMENT. 
 
ASTANA 00002375  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
MILAS