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Spymaster | Kazakhstan
Tokayev puts faith in Ermek Sagimbayev to restructure Kazakh intelligence

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Published on 25.02.2022 at 07:00 GMT 3 min read Lire en français

Ermek Sagimbaïev © Gouvernement du Kazakhstan

The intelligence officer, who is as close to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as his predecessor was to Nursultan Nazarbayev, is starting his role as the new interior intelligence chief with the hefty task of staffing the country's security services with agents closer to the current executive.

Since the January riots, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has taken several steps to try and weaken the influence of those close to his predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev, who was dismissed as chairman of the country's security council on 4 February. A day later, Ermek Sagimbayev replaced Karim Massimov at the head of the KNB, the Kazakh internal intelligence service (IO, 17/01/22). For Tokayev, Sagimbayev is an obvious choice given the pressing need to take back control of senior level security.

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Spymaster | Kazakhstan
Tokayev puts faith in Ermek Sagimbayev to restructure Kazakh intelligence