Nazarbayev resigns, Tokayev sworn in as Kazakhstan's interim president

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took office as Kazakhstan's interim president on Wednesday following the sudden resignation of Nursultan Nazarbayev who had served as the country's president for nearly three decades.

"I solemnly swear to faithfully serve the people of Kazakhstan, to strictly observe the Constitution and the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan, to guarantee the rights and freedoms of citizens, to fulfill in good faith great duties of the president of the Republic of Kazakhstan entrusted on me," Tokayev said at a parliament meeting.

He will remain president until a new leader is chosen during the country's presidential elections scheduled for 2020.

Tokayev had been the speaker of the upper house of Kazakhstan's parliament since September 2017.

Nazarbayev, who had served as Kazakhstan's president since the country's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, announced his resignation on Tuesday.

He said he would remain the head of Kazakhstan's security council and leader of the Nur Otan party, the country's ruling party, and remain a member of the Constitutional Council.

Tokayev signed his first decree, awarding Nazarbayev the title of "Khalyk Kakharmany," or the People's Hero.