From 13 December 2004, Aitimova was the Education and Science Minister until being dismissed on 10 January 2007. The following month on 9 February 2007, she was appointed as Representative of Kazakhstan to the United Nations (UN) and from 16 May 2007, as an Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Cuba. On 26 August 2013, by the presidential decree, Aitimova was relieved of the posts of the Representative of Kazakhstan to the UN, ambassador to Cuba and Solomon Islands and was appointed as a Senator. She worked as member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Defense and Security from 17 October 2014 and the chair of the Committee on Social and Cultural Development and Science from 19 September 2016. On 12 August 2019, by the Decree of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Aitimova was dismissed from the Senate as her term expired after working there for almost six years. In response to the decision, Aitimova responded saying:I take it right. In accordance with the law, deputies of the Senate are appointed by decree of the Head of State, and upon the expiration of their mandate, their powers are terminated. All of this is legal. I am grateful towards Elbasy [Nursultan Nazarbayev], the President [Kassym-Jomart Tokayev], Dariga Nazarbayeva for giving me the opportunity to work at all stages of my career."After being dismissed, Aitimova expressed her interests in doing career in business despite admitting not having experience in it, she stated any interests in working in position that would "suit herself, abilities and capabilities". However just few months later on 1 October 2019, Aitimova was elected as the deputy chair of the Council of Senators, an advisory body where current and former senators develop proposals, exchange experience, and conduct events aimed at the development of parliamentarism. Controversy Aitimova was criticized for expressing condemnation of 1986 Jeltoqsan event, where young Kazakh students gathered in Republic Square to protest the central Soviet government while she served as a secretary of the central committee of Komsomol of the Kazakh SSR. Aitimova claimed that most students sharply expressed the hooligan actions of individual young people with a nationalist mindset and believed that they cannot represent interests and speak on behalf of the entire student body of the city. Family Aitimova is married to Nurlan Bek-Alievich Abdullaev and has two children Saken (born 1971) and Sabina (born 1989). Awards Order of Dostyk 2 degrees (2006) Order of Parasat Order