Tokayev returns name of Astana to Kazakh capital

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has approved the changes, according to which the name of Astana is returned to the capital of the country, Report informs referring to the website of the Kazakh leader.

Tokayev has signed the law “On amendments and additions to the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan.” Among the main changes are the return of the name Astana to the capital instead of Nur-Sultan and the possibility for the president to be elected for only one seven-year term.

The initiative to return the name of Astana to the capital of Kazakhstan was made by a group of Kazakh deputies “Zhana Kazakhstan,” which includes parliamentarians, including those from the ruling party “Amanat.” At the same time, it was Tokayev who, in 2019, proposed to perpetuate the name of Nursultan Nazarbayev by naming the capital of Kazakhstan in his honor.