The Turkestan Region of Kazakhstan, Central Asia, has submitted an application for NEAR associate membership to the Secretariat through the Embassy of Kazakhstan in South Korea.
The Turkestan Region’s application will be officially approved at the NEAR General Assembly, scheduled to be held in Liaoning Province, China, this June, following prior written consent from member governments.
If the Turkestan Region is officially admitted as an associate member, it will become the third NEAR associate member following Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and Chuy Region, Kyrgyzstan, which joined NEAR associate membership in 2017 and 2024 respectively. Currently, NEAR is promoting the "NEAR (Northeast Asia) + 2 (Southeast Asia, Central Asia)" policy to expand the scope of its regional diplomacy.
The Turkestan Region's application for NEAR associate membership was actively supported by Nurgali Arystanov, the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to South Korea.
The Turkestan Region, located in southern Kazakhstan, has a population of 2.2 million and covers an area of 117,249 km². Its capital is Turkestan City, and its key industries include cotton, textile manufacturing, heavy industry, metallurgy, and oil refining.
The current governor of Turkestan Region is Kusherov Nuralkhan. He served as Deputy Mayor of Shymkent from 2015 to 2018, Deputy Governor of the Turkestan Region from 2023 to 2025, and was appointed as Governor on January 6, 2025.