Political scientist: Naming airports is worldwide practice

ASTANA. KAZINFORM The director of the "Youth" research center Talgat Kaliyev commented on the Kazakh government's decision to name the Astana International Airport after Nursultan Nazarbayev.

"Essentially, it was a long-awaited decision. And it has been voiced more than once. Therefore it is logical that the new airport was named after the President. Is it reasonable? Naming airports is mainly a practice of Western democracies and has nothing to do with the cult of personality. Quite the contrary. For example, in Paris there is an airport named after Charles de Gaulle, in New York - Kennedy, Washington - in Dulles. It is a Western practice," he said.

According to him, airports in the post-Soviet region mostly didn't have names.

"I personally am pleased with one more thing - we will leave the old code. You know that the airport's code is still TSE. I hope that this will be the reason to change the code," he explained.

"By the way, in Turkey, there is Ataturk airport. This makes the airport stand out more. Take Nazarbayev University, when it was created, there was also an ambiguous reaction. Today it is a popular and prestigious university, both for citizens of the country and for foreigners. We hope that the same fate awaits the airport," Talgat Kaliyev added.

As it was reported, the resolution of Kazakh Government on renaming Astana airport was published in national newspapers "Kazakhstanskaya Pravda" and "Yegemen Kazakhstan" of June 20, 2017.