Kazakhstan may change national emblem - President Tokayev

ASTANA. March 15 (Interfax) - Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has proposed setting up a special commission to analyze the possibility of changing the national emblem.

"As regards the national emblem, I suppose it would make sense to take into consideration the reasonable arguments of professionals and committed citizens, including young people, that Kazakhstan's national emblem is too cumbersome and eclectic to perceive and contains signs of the Soviet era," Tokayev said at a meeting of the National Kurultai, a presidential consultative assembly, on Friday.

"If everyone agrees, we could set up a special commission that would substantively consider all aspects [of the issue] and hold public discussions, and then announce an open tender for the best design for Kazakhstan's new national emblem," he said.