Kazakhstan to switch from Cyrillic to Latin alphabet

ASTANA, Kazakhstan: Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Wednesday set out a timeline for the ex-Soviet country to switch from Cyrillic letters to the Latin alphabet as part of a modernisation drive.

The 76-year-old leader has long called for ditching the Cyrillic alphabet -- which Kazakhstan shares with neighbour and ally Russia -- in favour of the more widely used Latin one. In an article published in the state-owned Egemen Kazakhstan newspaper Nazarbayev called for the government to begin "preparatory work" and "create a schedule" for the switch.

"By the end of 2017, after consultation with academics and representatives of the public, a single standard for the new Kazakh alphabet and script should be developed," Nazarbayev wrote.

"From 2018, Kazakhstan must train specialists to teach the new alphabet and produce textbooks for secondary schools," Nazarbayev added in the Kazakh-language paper.