ASTANA (TCA) — Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev has ordered the government to introduce a Latin-based alphabet for the Kazakh language by the end of 2017, marking a major shift after nearly 80 years of using a Cyrillic-based alphabet, RFE/RL reported.
The order is part of a new “strategic plan” for the country that was published in the state-run Egemen Qazaqstan newspaper on April 12.
It appears to be part of efforts to emphasize Kazakh culture while distancing the country from Russia and shedding rules and traditions left over after decades of domination by Moscow.
In the plan, Nazarbayev wrote that textbooks in …read more
Source: The Times of Central Asia
