Latin-based Kazakh alphabet presented to President of Kazakhstan
At the meeting, the attendees presented a draft Unified Standard of the Latin-based Kazakh alphabet prepared taking into account the proposals made by the public.
The Kazakh President stressed that the state language reform is one of the important issues of the spiritual modernization program.
"These days, the society has debated a lot about the issue of the new Kazakh language alphabet. Many people participated in the discussions. The idea of switching to the Latin-based script dates back as far as our independence. The Kazakh alphabet transition to the Latin script has always remained under my special control," Nursultan Nazarbayev said.
In addition, emphasizing the historical value of the transition process, the Head of State pointed to the need for a consolidated solution.
"No country in the world has discussed its new alphabet with the entire nation in that way. It is important for us to know the opinion of everyone. The Executive Office of the President has received over 300 appeals regarding the transition to the Latin-based alphabet. It is gratifying that young people also supported this process," the President of Kazakhstan said.
Nursultan Nazarbayev drew attention to the active engagement of the leading NGOs, academic communities and the general public in the discussion of the draft of the new Latin-based Kazakh alphabet.
The Head of the Baitursynov Linguistics Institute, Y. Kazhybek, and the Director of the Shayakhmetov Republican Coordination and Methodological Center for the Development of Languages, Y. Tleshov, reported to the Head of State about the results of the work done.
Afterwards, the President of Kazakhstan dwelled on certain issues that require special attention.
"In general, I support the major areas of the work done. Implementing the project, the world's experience has been taken into account. It is very important. At the same time, it is necessary to continue the awareness-raising activities with regard to the process of the Kazakh alphabet transition to the Latin script," Nursultan Nazarbayev said.
The Head of State underscored that the reform should not harm the development of other languages and infringe the rights of the citizens.
"The transition of the Kazakh language to the Latin-based script does not in any way affect the rights of Russian-speaking citizens, Russian and other languages. The use of Russian in Cyrillic script remains unchanged. It will also continue functioning. The transition to the new alphabet will ease the learning of the Kazakh language," the President of Kazakhstan said.
Nursultan Nazarbayev noted that the transition to the Latin script is a complex process aimed at creating conditions so that the Kazakh language could develop further and be included in the global information space.
Additionally, the Head of State highlighted the need to train teachers and prepare the methodological base for introducing the new alphabet into the education system and instructed the Government to develop the plan of its gradual implementation.
At the end, the President of Kazakhstan thanked all the citizens of Kazakhstan, scientists, and linguists for support and active participation in reforming the Kazakh alphabet.