Azerbaijan, Baku, 18 April / Trend corr. I.Alizade / The standing Parliamentary Commission on Regional issues approved the renaming of the Ali Bayramli and Khanlar regions.
The issue to rename Ali Bayramli to Shirvan, and Khanlar to Goygol was discussed during the meeting held on 18 April.
Arif Rahimzade, Chairman of the Commission, stated that the public and Executive Power of Ali Bayramli and Khanlar regions appealed to Parliament to have the names of the regions changed.
"A city, which plays an important role in the development of Azerbaijan, cannot be named after the person who stood against Azerbaijan's independence," MP Azay Guliyev, stated.
MP Rovshan Rzayev, who presents the Khanlar region, stated that about 8,000 residents in the region participated in the 127 meetings, dedicated to renaming the region to Goygol.
Khanlar region was founded by the Germans in 1819 and originally was named Yelentrop. In 1930, the region was renamed Nariman Narimanov and in 1938 it was re-named after the communist, Khanlar Safaraliyev, by order of Stalin.