2012 to witness consulate of Kazakhstan in Palestine

The non-resident Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Palestinian Authority, Bulat Sugurbayev, told WAFA on Sunday that in 2012 a Consulate of Kazakhstan will be opened in Ramallah.   During a celebration that marks the occasion of the 20th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and Palestine, attended by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Riyad al-Malki , media representatives and other PA key officials, Sugurbayev told WAFA: “This year we will open a consulate in Ramallah.” He added that Kazakhstan has always been supportive of the Palestinian cause as it was one of the countries that recognized Palestine, supported the Palestinian UN bid, voted in favor of Palestine in UNESCO “and also the move of our government to appoint me as an ambassador to PA is a support.” The ambassador said that the first step of developing the long-term friendly relationship between the two countries is opening the consulate in Ramallah and the next step is holding the first meeting for the created intergovernmental joint committee on economic cultural educational cooperation, which will be “in charge of what way to go further, what kind of agreement we need to prepare and so on.” On his part, al-Malki told WAFA: “This year we will witness the opening of Consulate of Kazakhstan here in Palestine; 2012 is a remarkable year in the history of our relationship.” He added that “we are meeting here to celebrate special relationship between Palestine and Kazakhstan,” “I could only say that such relationship is based on trust, friendship, dedication, commitment, sincerity and long lasting support, that’s why 20 years later we feel that we are still strong working together for the achievement of our mutual goals and interests, in particular the establishment of sovereign independent state of Palestine.” He praised Kazakhstan’s long lasting support to the Palestinians and expressed hope that this will be the beginning of developing the relationship between the two countries. Diplomatic relations between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the State of Palestine were established on April 6, 1992. Palestinian Embassy in Kazakhstan was opened in 1993. President of republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev visited Palestine in December 1995 and April 2000. Late President Yasser Arafat visited Kazakhstan in December 1991 and April 1999. In October, 2008 Yasser Abbas, the Special Envoy of the Head of Palestinian National Authority Muhammad Abbas visited Kazakhstan.