The Central Election Commission says Kassym-Jomart Tokayev won nearly 71 percent of the vote with all the ballots counted. The results have not yet been formally confirmed.
Kazakhstan's interim leader Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the hand-picked successor of long-term former president Nursultan Nazarbayev, wins over 70 percent of the votes in the presidential election, according to an exit poll.
Who will lead the nation of 18 million that occupies a chunk of steppe the size of Western Europe, set between Russia, China and the Caspian Sea, and with immense hydrocarbon reserves?
Kazakhstan's leader for the past thirty years has voluntarily left the presidency, a first in the region.
"I have taken the decision to refuse the mandate of the presidency," Nazarbayev said in a televised address announcing his decision to step down as Kazak president after three decades in office.
While some ministers and deputy ministers are likely to be reinstated, the decision marks the end of Bakytzhan Sagintayev's premiership, which began in 2016.
The move has triggered criticism but experts argue it will help the nation of 18 million Turkic-speaking people break away from Russia's cultural and political influence, especially in light of Moscow invading Crimea in 2014.
The July 15 coup attempt reveals the Fetullah Terrorist Organization's "dark side" said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and warned countries in which the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) has established themselves.
The Interior Ministry of Kazakhstan said that militant groups are behind the deadly attack in Aktobe city. A group of militants hijacked a bus and rammed the gate at a military facility.
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