Former PM of Kyrgyzstan Felix Kulov proposes to rename Kyrgyzstan into the Republic of Kyrgyz. He wrote about it on his Facebook page.
Felix Kulov recalled that at the Miss Universe beauty pageant, which took place in New Orleans, the name of the country was mispronounced twice, and the participant from Kyrgyzstan was presented as from Kazakhstan.
«Kyrgyzstan is still often confused with Kurdistan. So we will have to listen to such apologies more than once. If only an apology... In our ancient history, the prefix «stan» has never been used to designate the Kyrgyz state. The name «Kyrgyzstan» appeared relatively recently. At one time, I proposed giving the official name to our country — the Republic of Kyrgyz, by analogy with the Republic of Cuba, the Republic of Komi, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) ... In our Constitution, the name of the country in the official language sounds like this: «Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan)», and in the state language «Kyrgyz Respublikasy (Kyrgyzstan)». If the name is «the Republic of Kyrgyz», then it will be written and pronounced the same in all languages,» he explained his initiative.
Deputy of the Parliament Arslanbek Maliev also voiced the initiative to rename Kyrgyzstan. He suggested calling the country «Kyrgyz Eli» or «Kyrgyz Khaganaty».
