Latif Gandilov
The diplomat said he made this proposal to Mr. Nazarbayev 10 days ago,when the president of Kazakhstan met with the foreign diplomatic corps accredited in Astana.
"The same day, I made a personal appeal to the president with a proposal to rename Astana into Sultan-Ata", L. Gandilov told Liter newspaper
He explained that this idea came during a straight line of Kazakh president with his fellow compatriots, which was broadcast on all national TV channels.
"If you remember, the president said that friends called him Sultan when a child. And we all know that His Excellency Nursultan Nazarbayev considers Astana his child. So why not name this city after him?", the diplomat said, adding that it "would be logical to give the city a new name, which also would be consistent with the name of the former capital Kazakhstan-Alma-Ata.
Asked about Nazarbayev’s reaction to the proposal, Gandilov said he was very surprised.
In addition, the Ambassador of Azerbaijan offers to open a club of diplomats in the Kazakh capital saying Astana has become a real diplomatic center in Kazakhstan and the embassies that moved here take an active part in the cultural life of the capital city.
Astana (former names of the city areTselinograd, Akmola) was declared the new capital of the state instead of the former Alma-Ata in December 1997.
The idea of moving the capital of Kazakhstan belongs to Nursultan Nazarbayev.
He believes that the decision to rename the city "will be taken by another generation."
Astana means "the capital city" in Kazakh language.
Interfax-Azerbaijan
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