Former dy premier promoted as Kazakhstan Prime Minister

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Friday promoted a former deputy premier to succeed longtime ally Prime Minister Karim Massimov, who he has transferred to the role of security chief.

Massimov, who had led the Cabinet since 2014 was dismissed and made the Central Asian country's internal security chief on Thursday, on the back of a summer that saw a spike in homegrown radical violence. 

The appointment of Bykytzhan Sagintayev as premier temporarily ends speculation that Dariga Nazarbayeva – Nazarbayev's 53-year-old daughter – might take up higher office. Analysts suggested Dariga could succeed her 76-year-old father as president after she was made deputy premier in 2015, although Nazarbayev has given no indication of a successor.

Nazarbayev, who came to power before independence in 1991, said Friday that the cabinet as a whole would not undergo major changes as it is "carrying out its work during a difficult period."