Mukhtar Shakhanov, a Kazakh poet and politician who served as a member of parliament from 2004 to 2007, died on April 19, 2026, at the age of 83.
Born on July 2, 1942, in Otrar, Chimkent Oblast, in the Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union, he was also a writer, lawmaker, and politician. Shakhanov served as Kazakhstan’s ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, was a member of the Mäjilis, and edited the magazine Jalyn.
He was known in Kazakhstan for articles that drew public attention to the need to protect the Aral Sea and for work linked to the Jeltoqsan tragedy.
Mukhtar Shakhanov, 83, Kazakh poet and politician, MP (2004–2007).