Astana may be renamed into Nursultan or Nazarbayev

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - Majilis deputy Kuanysh Sultanov has commented on the initiative to perpetuate the name of President Nursultan Nazarbayev in the name of the capital city and other facilities, Kazinform correspondent reports.

"I believe that Astana deserves to bear the name of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, its creator and founder. There are many examples in history [when capital cities were named after founders]. Our people deserve that," MP Sultanov told journalists after the joint session of the Kazakh Parliament chambers.

He noted that the issue is at the approval stage.

"We suggested immortalizing the President's name in the name [of the capital city] and in the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Perhaps, the Constitution will be amended. This issue has to be approved and discussed. Astana may be renamed into Nursultan or Nazarbayev. We have put forward such proposal today and it has been supported by MPs," Sultanov noted.

In his words, the same issue was raised five years ago when the country was celebrating the 20th anniversary of Kazakhstan's Independence.

Sultanov stressed that the final decision on whether to rename the capital city will be made by the Head of State. If approved, the renaming process will not incur additional charges.