ASTANA -- A monument to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Turkey's first president, has been unveiled in the Kazakh capital, Astana, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.
President Nursultan Nazarbaev, who took part in the opening ceremony for the monument, said that Ataturk was able to save Turkey after the demise of the Ottoman Empire, put aside imperial ambitions, and preserve much of the empire's territorial integrity to create modern-day Turkey.
Nazarbaev said that it is because of Ataturk's efforts that Turkey is a well-developed and respected country today.
Kazakh is a Turkic language and Turkish businesses have a strong presence in Kazakhstan.