ASTANA, March 23. / TASS /. President of Kazakhstan Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev signed a decree on renaming Astana to Nur-Sultan on Saturday, the presidential press service reported on Saturday.

The document reads, "To rename the city of Astana, the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the city of Nur-Sultan, the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan."

The decree goes into force starting on the day of the first official publication.

On Wednesday, Tokayev at a joint meeting of the chambers of parliament proposed to name the capital of the republic in honor of the first president of the country Nursultan Nazarbayev. The Parliament of Kazakhstan at a joint meeting of the chambers on Wednesday adopted legislative amendments to the constitution regarding the renaming of Astana. The deputies of the maslikhat (local representative body) on March 20 at an extraordinary session supported the initiative to rename the capital of Kazakhstan.