Nazarbayev against renaming Astana

He said it today at the meeting of the National Commission for Modernization.

The President has criticized also the tendency of using prefix “Nur” in proper nouns and the idea to rename Astana after him which was announced at the joint sitting of the Parliament on Wednesday.

“I have never made such propositions,” he stressed.

Recall that Majilis Deputy Kuanysh Sultanov offered yesterday to perpetuate the name of President Nursultan Nazarbayev in the name of the capital city and other facilities

 "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.

"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.