ANP
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News from the NOS•yesterday, 20:37•Modified yesterday, 20:52
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For three years the capital of Kazakhstan was called Nur-Sultan, but the city takes back its old name: Astana. President Tokaev agreed, according to his spokesman. The name change in 2019 was intended to honor former president Nursultan Nazarbayev. But relations between current President Tokayev and former President Nazarbayev have deteriorated.
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The former president has also been banned since June from calling himself “Leader of the Nation”, a title created especially for him. Nazarbayev ruled Kazakhstan from 1991 to 2019. Tokayev, who until recently was known as a follower of Nazarbayev, became the new president three years ago.
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Nur-Sultan – now Astana again – has only been the capital of Kazakhstan since 1997. In that year Nazarbayev decided that this would be the new capital, instead of the larger Almaty. The city has been continuously expanded with major construction projects and today has one million inhabitants.
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Moving the capital to Astana 25 years ago raised questions: the city is relatively remote and can get very cold in winter.
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