Kazakhstani MPs back return of name 'Astana' to country's capital city

A group of deputies of the Mazhilis (lower house of parliament) of Kazakhstan "Zhana Kazakhstan" ("New Kazakhstan"), set up in February, proposed to rename the capital of the republic back to Astana, Report informs, citing TASS.

"In the event of amendments to the constitution, using this opportunity, it is necessary to make another important change to the basic law. We mean the return of the former name of the capital. We consider it wrong when a city is named after a person during his lifetime, besides, the people also did not accept the new name of the capital. Therefore, it will be historically fair to return the former name of the capital Astana, which was once proposed by the first President Nursultan Nazarbayev," the statement says.

According to parliamentarians, this decision will take into account the contribution of the former head of state to the formation and development of the main city of the country, as well as meet the citizens' needs and expectations.