Tokaev returns the name of Astana to the capital of Kazakhstan

Sep. 17 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The president of Kazakhstan, Kasim Yormat Tokaev, has signed this Saturday the decree by which the name of Astana is returned to the capital of the country three years after it was renamed Nursultan.

Tokaev has signed the decree “to rename the city of Nur-Sultan, the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as Astana, the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan,” the Kazakh news agency Kazinform reported.

Parliament approved on Friday the name change after three years with the name of Nursutlá in honor of former President Nursultán Nazarbaev, who resigned in 2019 after almost 30 years in power.

In addition, Parliament has unanimously approved a constitutional reform that extends the presidential term to seven years, but prevents an incumbent president from running for re-election.

Tokaev, 69, could stand for election again because the rule does not apply retroactively and could thus shore up his dominance of the country’s politics after the riots earlier this year that led to stripping Nazarbaev of his influence.

One million people live in Astana, “capital” in the Kazakh language. This is how it was renamed when the capital was moved there, in 1998, by order of Nazarbaev, although the most populous city is still Alma Ata, in the south of the country.