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Kazakh deputies suggest renaming country’s capital after incumbent president

The deputies also called for erecting a monument devoted to the 25th anniversary of the republic’s sovereignty

Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev Mikhail Japaridze/TASS

Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev

© Mikhail Japaridze/TASS

ASTANA, November 23 /TASS/. Members of Kazakhstan’s parliament suggested renaming the country’s capital Astana in honor of Kazakhstan’s incumbent President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Wednesday.

"We propose that the outstanding contribution of our first President Nursultan Nazarbayev (the leader of the nation) be reflected in the country’s Constitution and perpetuated in the names of the capital and other vital facilities," a draft declaration on the 25th anniversary of Kazakhstan’s independence to be marked on December 16 stated. Kuanysh Sultanov, a deputy of the Majilis (parliament’s lower house), read out the declaration at a plenary session of the two chambers of Kazakhstan’s parliament.

The deputies also called for erecting a monument devoted to the 25th anniversary of the republic’s sovereignty in Astana. "The great path of independence should be immortalized. It is necessary to erect a "Tauelsyz Kazakhstan (Independent Kazakhstan) monument in the capital," the declaration said.

On December 16, 1991, Kazakhstan’s Supreme Soviet passed a constitutional law on declaring the republic’s independence from the then Soviet Union. Despite the USSR’s fast disintegration, Kazakhstan was the last to declare its independence. Independence Day, which is celebrated annually on December 16, is Kazakhstan’s main national holiday.

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