The Careers of Central Asian Presidents’ Children 

"Do you know what the children of Central Asian leaders do, and which positions they hold? And what about the children of former presidents? QALAMPIR.UZ has gathered all this information in one place." 

Tajikistan 

Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon’s eldest daughter, Ozoda Rahmon, currently serves as the Head of the Presidential Administration of Tajikistan. She began her political career in 2005, at the age of 27. Her first workplace was the country’s Embassy in the United States, where in 2007 she worked as an attaché for culture and education. From 2007 to 2009, she headed the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and shortly afterward was promoted to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan. 

In 2014, she was appointed First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Since 2016, by presidential decree, she has been heading the Presidential Administration of Tajikistan. That same year, Ozoda Rahmon was elected as a senator from Dushanbe and became the chair of the Legal Affairs Committee of the parliament’s upper chamber. In 2017, she was also awarded the title of State Counselor of Justice by presidential decree. 

Another daughter of Rahmon, Ruhshona Emomali, has not lagged behind her elder sister. In December 2021, she was appointed Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Prior to that, she served as Deputy Head of the Department for International Organizations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

The youngest daughter of the President of Tajikistan, Farzona Emomali, is the Head of the Department for Reforms, First Aid, and International Relations at the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population. She was appointed to this position on August 13, 2025. 

Before her appointment, since 2021, Farzona Emomali had been working as a specialist at the Department for Reforms, Primary Health Care, and International Relations of the Ministry of Health. 

President Emomali Rahmon’s youngest daughter, Farzona Emomali, was born on July 4, 1998, in Dushanbe. After finishing secondary school, she entered the branch of Moscow State University named after Lomonosov in Dushanbe and graduated with excellent marks in 2014. That same year, she enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine at Avicenna Tajik State Medical University, graduating in 2020 with honors. In 2022, she completed her clinical residency in pediatrics, and in 2023, she graduated with honors from the Faculty of Public Administration at the Academy of Public Administration under the President of Tajikistan. She is also a member of the People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan. 

Rahmon also has a son, Rustam Emomali. Now 38 years old, he is widely believed to be being prepared by his father as the future leader of Tajikistan. Rustam heads both the country’s Anti-Corruption Agency and the State Financial Control Agency. He also holds the military rank of Major General. In 2017, at the age of 29, he was appointed Mayor of Dushanbe by his father — a move many analysts interpreted as the next step toward the top of government.

Kazakhstan 

Since coming to power, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has not introduced his family members to the public and rarely appears with them. Open sources, however, state that he has a 41-year-old son named Timur Tokayev, who later changed his surname to Kemel. In 2009, he defended his candidate dissertation at the Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the topic “Kazakhstan’s Strategy Toward the West”, earning the degree of Candidate of Political Sciences. He is engaged in business and is a major entrepreneur in the oil sector. He also heads the charitable foundation named after his grandfather, Kemel Tokayev. 

Timur Tokayev has lived in Geneva for more than 20 years and obtained Swiss citizenship. Through offshore companies in the British Virgin Islands and the United Kingdom, he managed significant family assets and often acted as the visible face of the Tokayev family’s business interests abroad. His rise in business is frequently linked to his father’s political influence, raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest and reinforcing control over the intersection of Kazakhstan’s political and business elites.

Kyrgyzstan 

President Sadyr Japarov has three children. His eldest son, Doston Japarov, passed away in a road accident in 2019. His second son, Rustam Japarov, is building the largest golf course in Central Asia, located in Issyk-Kul. He also heads a project to construct football fields across villages throughout the republic. The younger children, Nurdavlat and Janaym, are both studying in Turkey. Sadyr Japarov has repeatedly stated that his children and other relatives do not interfere in the political affairs of the state.

Turkmenistan 

According to some sources, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov has four children — one son and three daughters. Nothing is publicly known about his wife’s name or biography, although rumors suggest that, like his mother, her name may also be Ogulgerek. One of Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov’s favorite grandchildren, who frequently appears in public with him, is Kerimguly (born in 2002). Some sources claim that he is Serdar Berdimuhamedov’s son, while others state that he is the son of Serdar’s sister, Guljahan, the daughter of the “Arkadag.” It is also reported that two of Serdar Berdimuhamedov’s three daughters may be named Ogulbabek (born in 2004) and Aygul (born in 2008). 

The personal life of the presidential family is kept secret and strictly hidden. However, Turkmen opposition media reported that while Serdar Berdimuhamedov was working in Geneva, Switzerland, his three children (reportedly Kerimguly, Ogulbabek, and Aygul) studied at the prestigious and expensive Ecolint International School. In 2020, the annual tuition fee at this institution was nearly 35,000 Swiss francs — about 36,000 US dollars — in addition to a registration fee of around 7,000 dollars and other charges. Thanks to the school’s open information policy, it became known that Kerimguly was expected to graduate in 2021, Ogulbabek in 2023, and Aygul in 2027. However, opposition outlets later claimed that none of them completed their studies there, as they returned to Turkmenistan with their father.

Uzbekistan 

In June 2025, by presidential decree, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s eldest daughter, Saida Mirziyoyeva, was appointed Head of the Presidential Administration of Uzbekistan. She was born on November 4, 1984, in Kokand. A graduate of the University of World Economy and Diplomacy, she also studied at Tashkent State University of Law and earned a master’s degree from Moscow State University named after Lomonosov. 

From 2019 to 2020, Mirziyoyeva served as Deputy Director of the Agency for Information and Mass Communications under the Presidential Administration. Since 2020, she has held the position of Deputy Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Public Fund for Support and Development of the National Mass Media. In addition, since 2019, she has been a member of the Commission on Gender Equality. 

President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s younger daughter, Shakhnoza Mirziyoyeva, was elected First Deputy Chair of the National Paralympic Committee of Uzbekistan in August 2024. She also currently serves as First Deputy Director of the National Agency for Social Protection under the President of Uzbekistan. 

From December 2017 to August 2019, Shakhnoza Mirziyoyeva worked as Deputy Head of the Department for Coordination, Analysis, and Strategic Development of Preschool Education Institutions at the Ministry of Preschool Education (now the Ministry of Preschool and School Education). In June 2023, she was appointed First Deputy Director of the National Agency for Social Protection

Former Leaders’ Children 

Kazakhstan 

Among the children of Kazakhstan’s former president Nursultan Nazarbayev, his eldest daughter, Dariga, is best known for her political career. Throughout her activity, she served three times as a member of parliament, first elected in 2004 on the list of the Republican Party Asar. 

At that time, she dealt with issues of socio-economic development, headed the Committee on Socio-Cultural Development, and led the party’s parliamentary faction. From 2015 to 2016, she served as Deputy Prime Minister, overseeing the social bloc. Afterwards, Dariga transitioned to the upper chamber of parliament, where she worked on international relations, defense, and security matters. 

Since September 2016, Dariga has been a member of the Senate of Kazakhstan, and from March 2019, she has held the position of Chair (Speaker) of the Senate. In 2020, by decree of the new president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, she left this post. 

In February 2022, Dariga decided to step down as a member of the Mazhilis (lower house of parliament). Since January 2021, she has been serving as a deputy of the VII convocation and a member of the Committee on Economic Reforms and Regional Development. 

Currently, Dariga Nazarbayeva is active in public life, heading the Nursultan Nazarbayev Foundation and serving as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Union of Women’s Forces of Kazakhstan.

Kyrgyzstan 

The eldest daughter of former president Askar Akayev is Bermet Akayeva, who married Kazakh citizen Adil Toigonbaev, later accused in absentia of corporate raiding, corruption, and fraud following the 2005 revolution. 

In 2017, the Pervomaisky District Court in Bishkek sentenced Toigonbaev to 20 years in prison with confiscation of property and imposed a fine of 20,000 soms. The court also ordered him to pay 677 million soms in damages to the benefit of “Manas” International Airport JSC. 

At present, Bermet Akayeva lives abroad. In 2017, together with her father, she co-authored a book about the future of Kyrgyzstan.

Turkmenistan 

The eldest daughter of the National Leader of the Turkmen People and Chair of the People’s Council, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, is Oguljahan Gurbangulyyevna Otabayeva, who lived in the United Kingdom with her husband, Dovlet Otabayev. Otabayev worked as an advisor at the Embassy of Turkmenistan in London. 

The couple lived a quiet life away from public attention in London until 2019, when they came under the spotlight after a London cyclist filmed Otabayev using his phone while driving and criticized him. After returning to Turkmenistan, Otabayev was officially listed as an advisor to the Chair of the State Committee for Construction, overseeing medical facilities in the newly built Arkadag city — a major project in which the Berdimuhamedov family is heavily involved. 

In December 2024, Oguljahan Otabayeva was appointed Vice President for Medical Affairs of the Charity Foundation for Supporting Children in Need named after Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.

Uzbekistan 

Diplomat, professor, poet, designer, singer, entrepreneur, media magnate — Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of Uzbekistan’s First President Islam Karimov, quickly accumulated many titles and roles. Yet none of them ever outshone the status most often associated with her: the eldest daughter of the First President of Uzbekistan. From 2004 until her imprisonment, Gulnara Karimova enjoyed considerable influence and prestige both inside the country and abroad. There were a few areas she did not enter or projects she did not lead — from charity work and youth policy to media and business. Details about her past activities and her current situation can be found [here]. 

The youngest daughter, Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva, moved to the United States with her husband, Timur Tillyaev, and their children after her father’s death. She continues to manage the Islam Karimov Foundation, a public charity organization, remotely. In the U.S., Lola also founded the luxury perfume brand The Harmonist. 

Islam Karimov’s widow, Tatyana Karimova, lives in Tashkent. She plays a key role in preserving his legacy and in the activities of the Republican Public Foundation named after Islam Karimov.