Archive · 2024 · From the print edition of Saturday 3 August 2024, Vol. 32, No. 9,828
NewsGovernor's daughter home "to be near her parents"
Zara Toktarova, who has lived mainly in the United States for a decade, returned to Irad last week. The Department of Public Information says she has come home to be near her parents.
TALAS — Zara Toktarova, the only daughter of Governor Erlan Toktarov, has returned to Irad and is living with her family, the Department of Public Information confirmed yesterday. A spokeswoman said Ms. Toktarova had "come home to be near her parents" and asked the press to respect the family's privacy.
Ms. Toktarova, 35, a doctoral candidate in education at Stanford University and the wife of the Lieutenant Governor, Aidar Maksat, has lived mainly in the United States since the mid-2010s. Her return follows the Governor's withdrawal from public life last month. The department did not say whether she was taking leave from her studies or where in Irad she was living.
Ms. Toktarova keeps a low public profile and has made few public statements. She studied Iradi literature and pedagogy at Talas State University, graduating with honours in 2010, and has written on bilingual schooling and mother-tongue literacy. Acquaintances in Talas describe her as quiet and unassuming.
She has not commented on her father's absence. Asked whether the Governor's health had prompted the return, the spokeswoman said only that the Governor "continues to direct the work of the government".