Astana, Kazakhstan, Feb.7
By Daniyar Mukhtarov - Trend:
The initiative of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev to rename Kazakhstan contains a desire to break the stereotype about the Central Asian states with the prefix "stan", Kazakh political scientist, Doctor of Political Sciences Dosym Satpayev said.
"The president's initiative is understandable. There has long been a stereotype in the outside world about the Central Asia as a region of seven "stans" - Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan. However, all seven countries are seriously distinct from one another," Dosym Satpayev told Trend.
Meanwhile, the political scientist pointed out that the renaming of one small city requires large financial resources.
"The new name of a country is a very expensive project requiring significant financial expenditures," the political scientist said.
The main issue is from which sources will the state take resources for the renaming, according to Satpayev.
Earlier, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev expressed his opinion with regard to the country's official name.
"There is 'stan' in the end of the name of our country as in other Central Asian countries. At the same time, the foreigners are showing interest in Mongolia with a two million population. But there is no 'stan' in the end of this name. We must consider such a name as "Kazakh eli". But we must discuss this with the Kazakh people," the president said at the Intellectual School in Atyrau.
At the end of his address, the president stressed that the country will achieve all goals by preserving unity and tolerance.
"Our advantage is in our variety of multi-ethnic people," President Nazarbayev said.
Translated by L.Z.
Edited by C.N.