President Tokayev supports renaming the capital city of Nur-Sultan

Kazakhstan’s capital is going to be renamed once again. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has supported the renaming initiative, according to his official spokesperson Ruslan Zheldibay.

As the official noted, the president is aware of the initiative by several members of Parliament. In turn, MPs said that the initiative has been a result of their meetings with regular residents of the capital city.

At the same time, the spokesperson said that the president recognizes the historical role of Ex-President Nursultan Nazarbayev in «the strengthening of the modern state of Kazakhstan and its capital city.»

«That is why all other objects that have been named after the first president must keep their names,» the statement said.

On September 2, 2022, the group of deputies called Zhana Qazaqstan (New Kazakhstan) of Kazakhstan’s parliament suggested returning the county’s capital city to its previous name Astana and adding this name to the constitution.

The capital of Kazakhstan was called Akmola until 1998. A year later, Nursultan Nazarbayev, the first president of the country, decided to rename the city Astana «based on opinions of the city’s activists and the conclusion of the public onomastic commission.»

In March 2019, twenty years later, then president-elect Kassym-Jomart Tokayev suggested paying tribute to the ex-president and renaming Astana to Nur-Sultan.