Kyrgyzstan wants to change the name of the country

Kyrgyzstan wants to change the name of the country, reports vesti.kg The relevant initiative was made by the deputy of the Parliament of the Republic Arslanbek Maliev. He suggested abandoning the name "Kyrgyzstan" in the international arena.

The initiative was commented on by former Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic Felix Kulov.

"He argued (Maliev — approx. EADaily) this is because many foreigners confuse it with Kurdistan, and the prefix "stan" itself has become associated in the minds of some "gentlemen comrades" with backwardness and the Middle Ages," he wrote on his page on the social network.

The former head of government stressed that this topic had already been discussed earlier, and he was also among those who opposed the use of the suffix "stan".

Kulov noted that the name of the country — "Kyrgyzstan", "Kyrgyzstan" or "Kyrgyzstan" — has been used since May 25, 1925, when the Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Region was transformed into the Kyrgyz Autonomous Region. Up to this point, the term "Kyrgyzstan" has not been used in the centuries-old history of our people.

"The prefix "stan" was applied not only to us, but also to all the republics that were previously part of the Turkestan Soviet Republic for a short time. So Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan appeared from the word Turkestan. "Camp" is of Persian origin and meant "campsite, campsite", and later in the modern meaning "stanitsa, country". This little excursion into history was made only in order to counter some skeptics who at one time attacked me when I also tried to speak out against the word "Kyrgyzstan". They argued their criticism with the need to preserve our "inviolable" historical past," Kulov writes further.

He also mentioned that he had previously proposed various transliteration options for the name of the republic.

"For example, a name such as "Kyrgyz Republic" was proposed, which would also sound in all other languages. For example, in Russian — the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, in English — the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. By analogy with some others, which are also pronounced and sound almost the same in any language: the Republic of Cuba (in Spanish — Republica de Cuba, in English — Republic of Cuba), and not The Cuban Republic, also the Komi Republic, and not Another option for the name of our country was proposed with the replacement of the Persian term "stan" with Kyrgyz — "el (el)" or "zher". And then instead of "Kyrgyzstan" our country would be called "The Republic of Kyrgyz El" or "The Republic of Kyrgyz Zher". Again, by analogy, we can cite, for example, the "Republic of Mari El," Kulov continued.

He believes that the transformation of some state symbols that has occurred recently is a completely natural process.

"The growth of national identity, the rethinking of many well-established stereotypes lead to a revision of what previously seemed unshakable. We are not going anywhere from this. In addition, many attach great importance to such a winged expression: "As you name the ship, so it will sail." This is not mysticism, but there is something in it. It is not for nothing that our people attached great importance to choosing the right name, the name," Kulov concluded.