Kazakhstan's President Urges Men Not to Hug or Kiss When Greeting

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev urged men not to hug or kiss when greeting one another in Astana on August 23. He made the remarks at a press briefing after voting at a polling station in the Palace of Independence.

Responding to a question about public conduct, Tokayev said the country should return to its “ancestral traditions.” “It is not right when men start hugging and kissing each other, when women kiss men and men kiss women. This has never been part of our customs,” Kazakhstanskaya Pravda quoted him as saying.

Tokayev specifically criticized people in military uniform for embracing one another. He said men should shake hands firmly, greet each other with a smile, or place their right hand over their heart. The president also said he had initiated a “new code of conduct,” but did not specify whether this would be a formal document, whom it would cover, or whether it would be mandatory.

Tokayev did not directly mention sexual orientation or LGBT people in these remarks. They came amid restrictions on LGBT-related information in Kazakhstan: Law No. 248-VIII , signed on December 30, 2025, added “propaganda of non-traditional sexual orientation” to the list of content prohibited in mass media and several other areas.