The final version of the alphabet in Latin has been approved in Kazakhstan. The first translation into the new Kazakh Latin alphabet is scary and... useful
The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Abishevich Nazarbayev approved the alphabet by his decree Kazakh language, based on the Latin script. On February 19, 2018, changes were made to the Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On the translation of the Kazakh language alphabet from Cyrillic to Latin script.”
As the Head of State noted in his program article “Looking into the Future: Modernization of Public Consciousness,” public consciousness requires not only the development of modernization principles, but also specific projects that could allow us to respond to the challenges of the time without losing the great power of tradition.
It will be easy for older people, young people and even children to switch to the new alphabet. After all, now the majority of young people use the Latin alphabet to transmit text messages in the Kazakh language and on the Internet. We can say with confidence that the younger generation will be able to successfully cope with the transition Kazakh language into Latin alphabet. No wonder they say that the 21st century is the computer age. On the Internet you can use online translator Kazakh language into Latin or vice versa. Adaptation will require patience, effort and time. In pursuance of the above-mentioned decree, under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the National Commission for the translation of the Kazakh language alphabet into the Latin script was formed. To date, the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan has approved an Action Plan for the translation of the Kazakh language alphabet into the Latin script until 2025. At all stages of the event, information and explanatory work are provided. For these purposes, conferences, seminars, meetings, round tables, publications and video blogs, etc.
Working groups have also been created for spelling, methodological, terminological, technical and information support with the involvement of experts in the field of linguistics and IT technology. The spelling working group is developing rules for spelling and spelling of the Kazakh language in the Latin script. The methodological working group is developing teaching and learning methods, as well as their gradual introduction into the educational system. The terminological working group is intended to systematize the terminological fund of the Kazakh language based on the Latin script. The working group on technical and information support will carry out work on adapting Latin graphics to IT technologies and information spaces. Work in this direction will continue in the future. During the implementation of the alphabet, working groups will additionally conduct Scientific research and examination.
The State Language Development Fund presented a digital project - mobile app“Qazaq Latin Keyboard” is a Kazakh keyboard with Latin letters for smartphones and tablets, implemented as part of the “Rukhani Zhangyru” program. In the “Rukhani Zhangyru” program, the Head of State determined the phased transition of the Kazakh language to the Latin alphabet. Today, 70% of the world's information is in Latin. The Qazaq Latin Keyboard project makes it possible to use the Kazakh language on the Latin keyboard as a standard one in all applications. For the convenience of users, a transliteration of the keyboard set has been created. Using this function, you can enter Kazakh words in Cyrillic, after which the program will automatically translate them into Latin script in the text input window. The advantages of the Qazaq Latin Keyboard application are following functions: Latin alphabet on the keyboard, choice of interface language, easy installation, choice of theme, Feedback with the developer. This “Qazaq Latin Keyboard” application will help teach young people the new alphabet and is designed for large numbers of users. The application is available for download at App Store and on Android. The Kazakh language in Latin will be available to everyone.”
We present to your attention a new alphabet of the Kazakh language, based on the Latin script
Why do Kazakhs need the Latin alphabet? November 17th, 2017
When I heard the news that Kazakhstan was going to switch from the Cyrillic alphabet to the Latin alphabet, my main question was - who is all this for? I have close relatives living there and I’m still somehow interested in their lives. Is it forbidden to learn English there? No. Will Latinized Kazakh be understood by those who did not understand Cyrillic? No. In Uzbekistan, for example, where they switched to the Latin alphabet after the collapse of the USSR, the authorities began to receive collective letters from the intelligentsia with proposals to win back. The transition did not bring the results that were expected. The Cyrillic basis of the Uzbek language is preserved. Thus, the websites of government agencies are presented in four transcriptions: Russian, English, Uzbek Cyrillic and Uzbek Latinized.
If you really want to be so fashionable and close to the West, well, make another version of the Latinized Kazakh for God’s sake.
It is noteworthy that in Kazakhstan itself, political scientists still believe that Nazarbayev is bluffing.
“Firstly, this plan is not feasible in practice, since not enough money has been allocated for it. This is, rather, a distracting maneuver and a PR move, the purpose of which is to “buy up” the votes of the Kazakh electorate, the number of which reaches about 70%,” Talgat Mamyrayimov, head of the analytical service of Real politik (Kazakhstan), told the Vzglyad newspaper.
“Second point. IN Lately Events are developing in our country that indicate that Nazarbayev will not be able to implement his plan to transfer power to his successors without the support of the West. Nazarbayev understands that he may find himself a victim of the conflict between Russia and the West. With his idea of using the Latin alphabet, the leader of Kazakhstan is trying to flirt with him,” the political scientist believes.
Since Nazarbayev announced the reform six months ago, the number of people in Kazakhstan who directly demand that this money be redirected to infrastructure development has only increased, Mamyrayimov emphasized, adding:
“The political process in Kazakhstan is shaped by elites whose interests are directed to the West, while ordinary Kazakhs for the most part are committed to developing friendly relations with the Russian people and with Russia.” But this thought is just “in the air.” Surely it flashed through you too. Although Nazarbayev has always supported Putin and Russia, but as the years go by, power will soon be given away and maybe he is looking for more interesting options for yourself this way?
Many believe that this is terrible news for Russia, since the alphabet is directly involved in the formation of cultural codes, and the translation of the language into the Latin alphabet means a cultural departure to the West. And not in the frenzy of nationalism and Russophobia, as was done, for example, in Moldova or some countries former Yugoslavia. And “of sound mind and sound memory”, within the framework of systemic state policy.
By the way, about the first photo in the post. This is a photo of the winner of the Kazakh regional beauty contest for girls “Miss Uralsk”. Why is there an unambiguous word on the winner’s ribbon instead of “Uralsk”? “Because the city in Kazakh is “Oral”, not “Ural”. In Russian "Uralsk". But in Latin it looks even more... strange.
From the history:
Why did Kazakh even have a Cyrillic alphabet? After all, this is not Slavic language. Yes, this is a Turkic language. Until 1929, Kazakhs predominantly used Arabic writing. Under Soviet rule, the graphics of the Kazakh alphabet changed twice: in 1929 it was transferred to the Latin alphabet, and in 1940 - to the Cyrillic alphabet. Besides political reasons, in language translation Soviet peoples There was also a practical sense in using the Cyrillic alphabet: it was easier to publish books, manage document flow, and teach two languages in parallel in schools—Russian and national.
Why don't many people like the project? Latin alphabet?
The fact is that the Latin alphabet does not allow us to reflect a significant part of the sounds of the Kazakh language - we have to use various additional diacritics. The developers of the new Kazakh Latin alphabet preferred to take the simple route and mark all the necessary sounds with letters with apostrophes. And there are nine such letters in the new alphabet. When there are many apostrophes in a word, it is difficult to read: Pyʼsʼkiʼn, Dmiʼtriʼiʼ Medvedev, Vladiʼmiʼr Pyʼtiʼn, Alekseiʼ Navalnyiʼ, Medyʼza. Some words will become longer: for example, the word bear - ayu will be written aiʼyʼ. In some cases, an apostrophe after a sign makes the reader go back, as it were, to understand: oh, so that was the sound sh, not c! It is unclear why the alphabet needed an apostrophe for the letter Cʼ, given that there is no C without an apostrophe. There is a converter here - you can experiment.
The variants of the letter U suffered greatly, of which there are three in Kazakh - they denote slightly different sounds. In the Cyrillic alphabet they were quite different from each other, and in the current version of the Latin alphabet all three letters (and even together with Y) will be based on two Latin graphemes: Y and U.
Was the Cyrillic alphabet better?
Yes. In any case, it was possible in Cyrillic different ways avoid large quantity diacritics, except for the letters Y and E, which are also in Russian. The version of the Latin alphabet currently being discussed has 32 letters, and the Cyrillic alphabet has 42, and partly this is what allows the Kazakh reader to easily distinguish, for example, different U and not get confused with all the other sounds.
Are lots of apostrophes the only problem?
No. Any such reform of the writing system contains several dangers. And here are the two main ones:
Generation gap. It is extremely difficult to teach a new generation who are accustomed to the old. Many older people will find it difficult to get used to the Latin alphabet.
Access to knowledge. During the use of the Cyrillic alphabet, Kazakhstan has accumulated a lot of knowledge, recorded precisely in this graphic. Over time, people will find it difficult to access this heritage.
Those. remember what we said about the pros? Fashionable, modern... uh, well, that's all. Even Nazarbayev himself says that the main goal is the modernization and development of the Kazakh language, culture and economy. Nazarbayev notes that in modern world It will be easier for a state with a Latin alphabet. Who checked which is easier? And when will it be easier, in 100 years? What do you think of the current disadvantages? Well, let’s keep silent about the clearly underestimated and already huge amount of costs for all this “it will be easier.”
Generally speaking, it is very strange that a general referendum was not held on such a comprehensive issue for Kazakhstan.
Do you think we should worry about the fact that they are trying to somehow move our friendly neighbor away from Russia and move closer to the West, or is this all purely internal affairs of Kazakhstan?
sources
President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev approved new option Kazakh alphabet, based on the Latin script. The alphabet, to which the country must switch over the next seven years, will have 32 letters. In the Cyrillic version of the Kazakh alphabet, which was used for almost eighty years, there were 42 of them.
At the end of October, Nazarbayev signed a decree on a phased transition to the Latin alphabet until 2025. Initially, the head of the republic was presented with a choice of two versions of the Kazakh alphabet in the Latin alphabet: in the first, some specific sounds of the Kazakh language were proposed to be denoted using digraphs (combinations of two letters), the second option suggested transmitting these sounds in writing using apostrophes.
The head of the republic approved the version with apostrophes, but linguists and philologists criticized this version of the alphabet. According to scientists, excessive use of apostrophes would seriously complicate reading and writing - out of 32 letters of the alphabet, 9 would be written with a superscript comma.
The draft was sent for revision - in the final version, approved by Nazarbayev on February 20, there are no apostrophes, but new diacritics like umlauts are used (for example, á, ń), as well as two digraphs (sh, ch).
Expensive pleasure
Despite the fact that the authorities agreed to finalize the initially proposed version of the alphabet, the transition to the Latin alphabet itself will be fraught with great difficulties. Critics and scholars warn that older people may have difficulty adjusting to the Latin script, which could create a generation gap.
Akorda Alphabet of the Kazakh language, based on the Latin script, against the background of the flag of Kazakhstan, collage "Gazeta.Ru"
Another danger is that future generations will not be able to access many scientific and other works written in Cyrillic - most books simply will not be able to be republished in Latin.
A potential problem is also the decline in young people’s interest in reading - at first it will be difficult to adapt to the new alphabet and you will have to spend significantly more time reading. As a result, young people may simply stop reading.
While the country still uses a slightly modified Russian Cyrillic alphabet, the transition period will last until 2025. New passports and identity cards will begin to be issued to citizens of Kazakhstan in 2021, and in 2024-2025 there will be a transition to the Latin alphabet for government agencies, educational institutions and the media - on February 13, such a plan was announced by the Deputy Minister of Culture and Sports of Kazakhstan, Erlan Kozhagapanov.
The process of switching to the Latin alphabet will also be costly. At a minimum, it involves professional retraining of teachers.
According to data published on the website of the government of Kazakhstan, 192 thousand teachers will have to be “retrained” in the next seven years. This pleasure will cost Astana 2 billion rubles, and the reprinting of school textbooks will cost another 350 million rubles.
In September, Nazarbayev said that the first grades of schools would begin teaching in the Latin alphabet in 2022. At the same time, he emphasized that the transition process would not be painful - the president explained that children learn in schools English language and are familiar with Latin graphics.
The head of the department of Central Asia and Kazakhstan at the Institute of CIS Countries, Andrei Grozin, also expressed concerns that the high cost of latinization could lead to abuses and corruption. “The allocation of such a volume of funds with a very weak control mechanism over expenses will lead to a situation where a significant part of the bureaucratic class, especially in the regions, will be faced with the temptation to spend money without reporting. This opens up a wide field for abuse,” the expert believes.
Why does Astana need the Latin alphabet: Nazarbayev’s version
Nazarbayev first spoke about introducing the Latin alphabet in 2012, delivering his annual message to the people of Kazakhstan. Five years later, in his article “Looking into the Future: Modernization public consciousness"The president argued the need to abandon the Cyrillic alphabet due to the peculiarities of the "modern technological environment, communications, as well as scientific and educational process XXI century".
In mid-September 2017, Nazarbayev even declared that the Cyrillic alphabet “distorts” the Kazakh language. “In the Kazakh language there are no “sch”, “yu”, “ya”, “b”. Using these letters, we distort the Kazakh language, therefore [with the introduction of the Latin alphabet] we come to the basis,” noted the head of Kazakhstan.
Experts, by the way, claim the opposite: according to them, it is the Latin script that does a poor job of reflecting all the sounds of the Kazakh language in writing - this is evidenced by problems with additional diacritics like apostrophes.
Having signed a decree on the transition to the Latin alphabet in October last year, Nazarbayev assured that these changes “in no way affect the rights of Russian speakers, the Russian language and other languages.”
Deputy Director of the Institute of CIS Countries Vladimir Evseev notes that there is some slyness in such statements. “The money will be spent from the taxes of all citizens, this also applies to the Russian-speaking population,” the expert explained.
The President of Kazakhstan also hastened to dispel fears that the transition to the Latin alphabet signals a change in Astana’s geopolitical preferences. "Nothing like this. I will say unequivocally on this matter. The transition to the Latin alphabet is an internal need for the development and modernization of the Kazakh language. No need to look for a black cat in dark room, especially if it was never there,” Nazarbayev said, recalling that in the 1920s-40s the Kazakh language already used the Latin alphabet.
Until 1920, Kazakhs used Arabic script to write. In 1928, the USSR approved a unified alphabet for Turkic languages based on the Latin alphabet, but in 1940 it was nevertheless replaced by the Cyrillic alphabet. The Kazakh alphabet has existed in this form for 78 years.
At the same time, some other union republics, after the collapse of the USSR in 1991, hastily switched to the Latin script - thereby wanting to indicate their own independence from former USSR.
In particular, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan tried to introduce the Latin script, although certain problems arose there with the use of the new alphabet. In Kazakhstan, from such changes for a long time they refused because the majority of the population was Russian-speaking. However, the country also made attempts to define and strengthen its own identity - in particular, the replacement of Russian toponyms with Kazakh ones took place.
Goodbye Russia - hello West?
Despite all Nazarbayev’s assurances that the abandonment of the Cyrillic alphabet does not indicate a change in the geopolitical aspirations of the republic, many in Russia and in Kazakhstan itself believe that the purpose of this step is to emphasize “independence” from Moscow.
Astana is pursuing a “multi-vector policy,” that is, it is trying to develop relations simultaneously with the countries of the post-Soviet space, and with China, and with the West. At the same time, Kazakhstan is the most developed and richest of the Central Asian republics; the European Union is Astana’s second trading partner after Russia. Kazakhstan, in turn, is the main partner of the European Union in Central Asia, although its share in EU trade turnover is, of course, very insignificant.
According to the deputy director of the Institute of CIS Countries, Vladimir Evseev, it is the desire to emphasize the “multi-vector” nature of one’s policy that is the main reason for switching to the Latin alphabet.
“Within the framework of this multi-vector relationship, Kazakhstan’s relations with the West are developing - for this purpose Astana is switching to the Latin alphabet. This is necessary, among other things, to receive cheap investments, cheap loans, and so on,” the expert explained.
At the same time, the head of the department of Central Asia and Kazakhstan at the Institute of CIS Countries, Andrei Grozin, sees no reason to believe that Kazakhstan’s transition to the Latin alphabet indicates a reversal foreign policy. “Kazakhstan maneuvers between Beijing, Moscow and Washington, it has always been so, and it will continue to be so,” the expert stated.
Experts interviewed by Gazeta.Ru claim that Moscow is not very concerned about the question of what alphabet the Kazakhs will use.
“This decision did not cause much tension in Moscow and is unlikely to cause it; in our country this topic is perceived as abstract and not related to real politics,” Grozin noted.
Vladimir Evseev, in turn, notes that Russia is trying to treat this step of Astana with understanding. “It just makes communication difficult. It’s Kazakhstan’s right to decide how to write to them - they can even use Chinese characters,” admitted Gazeta.Ru’s interlocutor.
Director of the Republican Coordination and Methodological Center for Language Development named after Shayakhmetov, Doctor of Philology Erbol Tleshov presented a new version of the Kazakh alphabet, reports.
One of the participants in the working group on the transition to the Latin alphabet presented a version of the new alphabet at parliamentary hearings in the Mazhilis.
“The adoption of a new letter does not at all mean the replacement of some characters by others. This is the correction of shortcomings regarding spelling made in previous versions of the alphabet. In this regard, in our opinion, with the creation of the alphabet and its implementation, it is also necessary to adopt new spelling rules. In the proposed version, taken only the original signs of the Latin alphabet,” the philologist noted.
"Diacritics ( various superscript, subscript, and less often intrascript characters) do not provide full opportunity and guarantee for preserving the specific sounds of the Kazakh language. Thus, smartphones and other writing tools are supplied to us from various countries, where only 26 Latin letters are used. If we introduce diacritics into the new Latin alphabet, then due to their rare use we may lose the original sounds specific to the Kazakh language. Even now, especially among young people, it is common practice to replace the letter “ә” with “a”, “қ” with “k”, and some even ignore sounds in writing such as “ғ”, “ң”, “ү”, “ ұ", noted Erbol Tleshov.
“If we introduce different signs into the classical alphabet, which is used by the leading countries of the world, then we will not achieve our goal. By using digraphs we will preserve our specific sounds, and the diacritic difference in sounds, which is proposed by some of our colleagues, allows us not to preserve nature sound, but only to distinguish similar letters in a letter with conventional signs. If digraphs convey one sound with two signs, then diacritics, transmitted through superscript and subscript signs, are artificially created,” says the director of the Republican Center for Language Development.
“Three Kazakh vowel phonemes are soft “ә”, “ө”, “ү”, indicated by digraphs. For example, the sound “e” in combination with the hard vowel sounds “a”, “o”, “u” gives the sounds “ә " , "ө", "ү". The digraph "ae" denotes the letter "ә". We chose this designation to convey vowel voiced sounds.
(...) A specific sound in the Kazakh language is the sound “ң”, which is transmitted in English by “ng”. This digraph exists in many countries. This will be easily accepted by the population.
The sound "ғ" is conveyed thanks to the digraphs "gh". As is known, in the Kazakh language “ғ” has a soft pair “g”, so adding the sign “h” to it we get solid sound"ғ". That is, it turns out that we will transmit some sounds through digraphs,” the specialist noted.
“In the creation of this alphabet project, the sound system of the Kazakh language was primarily taken into account. As a result, in the proposed version, the alphabet consists of 25 characters. When creating a new alphabet in the Latin script, the following principle was taken as a basis: one letter - one sound, one letter - two sound and one sound, digraph system For full support. sound system of the Kazakh language, eight digraphs were included in the alphabet, indicating eight specific sounds,” Tleshov noted.
The director of the Republican Center for Language Development noted that the new version of the alphabet has been tested. “Especially young people have good skills in using the Latin alphabet. To some extent, they have formed a visual perception of it. Written skill is a matter of time. A unified standard for the alphabet of the state language will be carried out in stages. Therefore, its mastery will not bring any difficulties to the citizens of Kazakhstan,” - Erbol Tleshov expressed his opinion.
Let us remind you that a hearing was held in Parliament on the topic “On the issues of introducing a unified standard for the alphabet of the state language in the Latin script.” During the hearings, Deputy Prime Minister Erbolat Dosayev noted that the government has step-by-step algorithm transition to Latin.
October 27, 2017 President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbaev signed a decree on the gradual translation of the Kazakh language alphabet into Latin script. The head of state also named specific deadlines for language reform - until the end 2017 year to develop an alphabet standard, with 2018 th - to begin training relevant specialists, and the country should completely abandon the Cyrillic alphabet by 2025 year.
According to the Kazakh leader, the new alphabet will make it possible to more effectively modernize society, facilitate communication with the outside world, and help children learn English faster.
To the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan: to form a national commission for the translation of the Kazakh language alphabet into the Latin script; to ensure a phased transfer of the Kazakh language alphabet to the Latin script until 2025,” the text of the document says.
In order to ensure the translation of the Kazakh language alphabet from Cyrillic to Latin script, Nazarbayev decided to approve the attached Kazakh language alphabet, based on the Latin script and consisting of 32 letters
In the Kazakh language there are no “sch”, “yu”, “ya”, “b”. Using these letters, we distort the Kazakh language, therefore [with the introduction of the Latin alphabet] we come to the basis. This is a major event. But here we can’t rush, we will approach it gradually and thoughtfully,” Nazarbayev said.
Children will start learning, I think this will happen quickly, because today all children learn English, and there is the Latin alphabet,” the head of state noted.
In Kazakhstan, as well as among Kazakhs living in the republics of the former USSR, the Kazakh Cyrillic alphabet is now used. The Latin alphabet is used by some Kazakh diasporas abroad - in particular, in Turkey. IN China and in a number of other countries, Kazakh communities use Arabic writing. The intention of the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev to translate the Kazakh alphabet into Latin received many different interpretations: both as an exit of the republic from the cultural field of Russia, and as a certain “ civilizational choice", and simply as a desire for at least some changes. The President of the Republic emphasized:
PTranslation into Latin will not only serve the development of the Kazakh language, but will also turn it into the language of modern information.
Political scientist Erlan Karin, who previously headed the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies, explained:
The transition to the Latin alphabet is a civilizational choice. The choice is in favor of an open and global world,” said Karin.
Translating the language into Latin script is by no means Astana’s know-how; Kazakh ideologists are using Soviet experience here. The Turkic languages of the USSR were translated into Latin based 1920s years, for which it was even created All-Union Central Committee of the New Turkic Alphabet. The Bolsheviks wanted to Latinize the Russian language - for example, the People's Commissar of Education advocated for this Anatoly Lunacharsky.
Despite the slogan:
There are no fortresses that the Bolsheviks could not take,
by the age of 30 Soviet authority I became convinced that reality is not entirely amenable to experimentation. The languages of the Soviet republics could not function as full-fledged communication systems. The Department of Agitation and Propaganda of the Central Committee complained about the poor quality of dictionaries and books, the lack of protocols, and errors in translating the statements of the classics of Marxism and party leaders into local languages. And in the early 40s, the Turkic languages were translated into Cyrillic.
Of course, part of the intelligentsia of Kazakhstan happily perceives Latinization as a symbolic exit from the cultural space of Russia and “decolonization.” And yet, most of the debate about the change of writing in Kazakhstan is made meaningless by the fact that in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan And Azerbaijan alphabets have already been Latinized. It is difficult to judge what this gave Turkmenistan due to the closed nature of the country, but the situation in the other two former Soviet republics obvious. In Uzbekistan, it was never possible to completely translate even government office work into the Latin alphabet. Language reform was criticized in 2016 by one of the country's presidential candidates, the leader of the Democratic Party Sarvar Otamuratov. The experience of Azerbaijan is considered more positive, but critics note that total Latinization has led to citizens reading less - even for an educated person, the slowdown in the reading process complicates the perception of texts, which will affect the state of the intellectual sphere in the country.
Proponents of Latinization consider these problems to be insignificant. For example, in response to the question of how much it would cost to switch the country to a new script, the lower house of parliament answered:
Torg is inappropriate here. Going out into the civilized world is always more expensive, but then you go out into the world -stated deputyAzat Peruashev .
In 2013, after the publication of a thesis on the transition to the Latin alphabet, a group of writers of Kazakhstan addressed the president and government with an open letter:
To this day, almost a million book titles have been published in the republic, scientific works about the ancient and subsequent history of the people (...). It is clear that with the transition to the Latin alphabet, our younger generation will be cut off from the history of their ancestors,” the appeal says.
The authors of the letter drew attention to the fact that there is a general problem of mastering the Kazakh language in the country and in these conditions it is unreasonable to carry out radical reforms. According to experts, the change in writing will affect only Kazakh society, or its Kazakh-speaking part (ethnic Kazakhs speak not only Kazakh). Russian officials practically do not speak out on this issue; Kazakh officials persistently emphasize that language reform will not affect relations in any way Moscow And Astana.
At the same time, the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev promised that citizens of the republic will use the Cyrillic alphabet and will not forget the Russian language and Russian culture:
We will not move away from the Cyrillic alphabet. We will not forget Russian culture and the Russian language. We studied through the Russian language world culture and he will always remain with us. Our neighbor is always there and we will always cooperate. Translating the Kazakh language into Latin script is not a whim, it is the spirit of the times, Nazarbayev said.
Based on lenta.ru
