Kazakh President approves renaming Astana into Nur-Sultan

President of Kazakhstan Kasim-Zhomart Tokayev has signed a decree to rename country's capital Astana into Nur-Sultan.

"The decree is enacted from the day of its first official publishing," the document reads.

Tokayev has replaced Nursultan Nazarbayev who announced his decision to resign on March 19.

It was Kasim-Zhomart Tokayev who proposed to name the Kazakh capital after Nursultan Nazarbayev. On March 20, the proposal to rename Astana into Nur-Sultan passed both readings in the parliament.