Mukhtar Altynbayev

Mukhtar Qapashuly Altynbayev (Kazakh: Мұхтар Қапашұлы Алтынбаев, Mūhtar Qapaşūly Altynbaev; born December 10, 1945, in Karaganda, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union) served as the Minister of Defense and General of the Army of Kazakhstan twice, most recently from December 2001 to 10 January 2007.

After graduating, he was appointed deputy commander of the 24th Air Defense Corps in the city of Mary (in the Turkmen SSR) within the Turkestan Military District.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev had dismissed Altynbayev from his post as Defense Minister in August 1999 along with Nurtai Abykayev, the head of the National Security Committee.

According to Radio Free Europe, they were dismissed for "failing to properly investigate" the illegal sale of Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 fighter aircraft to North Korea.

[6][7] His son Muslim Mukhtarovich Altynbaev served as the Deputy Defense Minister to Saken Zhasuzakov and Nurlan Yermekbayev from 2017 to 2020.