Akorda publishes archive photo of Nursultan Nazarbayev

ASTANA. KAZINFORM The Akorda press service posted an archive photo as well as an excerpt from President Nazarbayev's book The Era of Independence on its Facebook page, Kazinform reports.

"I remember when in 1998, on the way from the airport, I suggested naming the capital "Astana". The discussion continued that evening in the residence. I cited strong arguments for "Astana". The word has a clear meaning, it means - capital city; besides, it doesn't have any negative political or historical interpretations; thirdly, it accurately reflects the city's functions, it also sounds good both in the state and other languages, and finally it can become a symbol of the city during the presentation of the capital, which will become one of the world's major cities under this new name," the excerpt reads.

As previously reported, Nursultan Nazarbayev's new book The Era of Independence was presented in Astana on December 15. The book describes the stages of building a new Kazakhstan, the analysis of the underlying logic and the decision-making mechanisms in response to the hardest internal and external challenges in the first decades of the Independence.