TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY Matt SIEGEL Kaz

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY Matt SIEGEL Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev waves to supporters in Astana on December 5, 2005 after his landslide victory in the December 4 presidential election was officially announced. The sacking of Kazakhstan's defence minister this week was just the latest in a series of dimissals of top figures in an apparent clear-out masterminded by veteran President Nursultan Nazarbayev. A brief statement issued by the presidency on June 17, 2009 gave no reason for the dismissal and said only that Danial Akhmetov had been "relieved of his duties" by order of the president of Central Asia's largest economy. AFP PHOTO / POOL / KAZAKH PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE (Photo credit should read STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images)