Talbak Nazarov
Talbak Nazarovich Nazarov (; born 15 March 1938) is a Tajik diplomat, politician, economist, and academician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan from 1994 to 2006. He previously served as rector of Tajik National University (1982–1988) and Vice-President of the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan (1991–1994). Nazarov is widely regarded as the patriarch of Tajik diplomacy and is recognised as one of the founders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
Early life and education
Nazarov was born on 15 March 1938 in a village in the former Kangurt district (now Danghara District) of the Khatlon Region in the Tajik SSR, Soviet Union. He lost his mother at the age of three and his father when he was in the sixth grade, forcing him to become independent at a young age. In 1953, after finishing the seventh grade, he moved to the capital, then called Stalinabad (now Dushanbe), and enrolled in the Dushanbe Financial and Credit Technical School, graduating in 1956. He then studied at the Leningrad Financial and Economic Institute (now Saint Petersburg State University of Economics), graduating in 1960. While studying in Leningrad, Nazarov worked during holidays at the Admiralty Shipyard, where the Soviet Union's first nuclear-powered icebreaker, Lenin, was being built. He also participated in the Virgin Lands campaign in Kazakhstan, repairing agricultural machinery. Nazarov is married to Tatiana Grigorievna Teodorovich. They have two children, Dmitry and Khanifa.
Academic and Soviet-era career
In 1960 Nazarov returned to Dushanbe and began working as an assistant at the Faculty of Economics of Tajik State University, becoming deputy dean within a year. In 1962, he entered postgraduate studies at the Leningrad Financial and Economic Institute and defended his candidate dissertation in 1965. He earned a doctorate in economics in 1972, and in 1975 received the degree of Doctor of Economic Sciences. Nazarov became head of the economics department and later dean of the faculty. In 1980, he was elected a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Tajik SSR and later a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. From 1982 to 1988, he served as rector of Tajik State University. In 1988, he was appointed Minister of Public Education of Tajikistan. He later became First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers and head of the State Planning Committee, a position he held until the collapse of the Soviet Union. From 1991 to 1994, Nazarov served as Vice-President of the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan.
Minister of Foreign Affairs (1994–2006)
In 1994, President Emomali Rahmon appointed Nazarov Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan, a position he held for 12 years. During the Civil War, Nazarov led the government delegation in negotiations with the United Tajik Opposition. His mission concluded with the signing of the General Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and National Accord in Tajikistan in 1997. Nazarov was one of the founders of the "Shanghai Five" group, which later evolved into the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). He participated in the development of the organisation's foundational documents and was present at the ceremony proclaiming the Shanghai Five. He attended the SCO summit in Dushanbe on 5 July 2000, where the transformation from the Shanghai Five to the SCO took place. In June 2017, SCO Secretary-General Rashid Alimov received Nazarov at the SCO headquarters in Beijing and acknowledged his role as one of the founders of the organisation. Nazarov addressed the United Nations General Assembly at its fifty-ninth, sixtieth, and sixty-first sessions. On 19 October 2001, he addressed the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, speaking on counter-terrorism efforts following the September 11 attacks. Nazarov played a key role in strengthening bilateral relations with Japan, contributing to the opening of the Japanese embassy in Dushanbe in 2002.
Later career
From 2008 to 2013, Nazarov served as Chairman of the Republican Charitable Foundation of Tajikistan, established by President Emomali Rahmon. He has also been a member of the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan and an independent board member of Agroinvestbank since April 2007. He holds the diplomatic rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.
Academic work and publications
Nazarov is a full academician of the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan and holds the title of Doctor of Economic Sciences (1975) and Professor. He is the author of over 150 research articles and more than 10 books, including:
- The Problems of Economic Industrial Stimulation (1972)
- Financial Credit Methods of the Efficiency of Capital Investments (1982)
- Contemporary Tajik Diplomacy (2006, in Tajik)
He has been awarded the title of Honorary Professor of the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China. In 2022, he was elected an honorary professor of the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences, becoming the first economist from Central Asia to receive this honour.
Awards and honours
- Order of Honour (1976)
- State Prize of Tajikistan named after Abu Ali ibn Sina in the field of science (2003)
- Medal "50 Years of the Development of Virgin Lands" from President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan (2006)
- Medal "Stars of the Commonwealth" in the category of Science and Education (2013)
- Order of the Rising Sun, 1st Class (Grand Cordon) – awarded by the Government of Japan on 28 February 2019 for his contributions to the development and strengthening of bilateral relations between Tajikistan and Japan. He is the first Tajik citizen to receive this honour.