Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said that he did not support the submission of proposals to a referendum on amendments to the constitution to rename the country.
"Opinions were heard from some citizens that the referendum should have also included the renaming of our state. I don't think that's right. They consider the word "stan" in the name "Kazakhstan" an alien concept for Asian countries. This is also not logical," Tokayev said Thursday at a meeting of the National Kurultai.
He noted that in Central Asia, along with Kazakhstan, there are such countries as Pakistan, Afghanistan and many others. The head of state stressed that Kazakhstan for 30 years of independence has signed many international treaties, strengthened its state borders, so it is important to keep the former name of the country.
"Now together we will create a new Kazakhstan. This is not an easy task. We need to adapt to a new way of life. The consciousness and values of our people must be radically renewed. Then a new quality of the nation will be formed. In other words, the whole country will be renewed," explained the president of Kazakhstan.
On June 5, a referendum on introducing changes to the Constitution was held in Kazakhstan, which was supported by more than 77% of citizens. According to the amendments, the powers of the head of state are reduced, the role of the parliament and local representative bodies is significantly strengthened, the human rights sphere is systematically strengthened, the Constitutional Court is reconstituted, the final abolition of the death penalty is fixed and the provisions on the status of Nazarbayev are excluded.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS