The change of the Soviet names of the regions of Kazakhstan to the Kazakh ones “will inspire the inhabitants of the republic”, said the akim (head) of the Ulytau region Berik Abdygaliuly during the conference “Spiritual development of the Ulytau region”.
According to RBC with reference to Informburo, Abdygaliuly recalled that the tradition of giving administrative names to regions has existed “since the Soviet period” and there are still regions with such names. He suggested renaming the Pavlodar region to Bayanauyl, the North Kazakhstan region to the Kyzylzhar region, the West Kazakhstan region to the Akzhaiyk region, and the East Kazakhstan region to the Altai region. At the same time, the akim emphasized that these are “sacred lands with a thousand-year history.”
He also noted that the newly formed regions of Zhetysu and Abai (formerly part of the Alma-Ata and Semipalatinsk regions) were named “in honor of the Kazakh sacred lands and a great personality.” The Ulytau region headed by him was proposed to be called the Central Kazakhstan region, but President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev made a “fair and historic decision.”
Recall that in February of this year, the authorities of Kazakhstan announced the change of “ideologically obsolete” names of 3 thousand settlements and streets until 2025.
The renaming of streets and settlements, whose names are associated with Russia or the Soviet period of history, is also carried out in Ukraine, after the start of a military operation by Russia, this process accelerated. In Moscow, the refusal of the Ukrainian authorities from the Soviet toponyms was repeatedly criticized.
Source: Rosbalt
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