Translated with AI
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov signed a law renaming the city of Jalal-Abad in the Jalal-Abad region to Manas. This was reported by the presidential press service.
As the press service explained, the purpose of the renaming is to strengthen national ideology and perpetuate the memory of the epic hero Manas, who symbolizes the Kyrgyz people's struggle for independence and protection from external threats. The initiative to rename came from members of the Jalal-Abad city council and Mayor Ernisbek Ormokov.
On September 3, city council members unanimously supported the mayor's proposal. On September 5, the bill was published on the Unified Public Discussion Portal. On September 9, the relevant parliamentary committee reviewed it in an extraordinary session and approved it in three readings. The following day, September 10, the Zhogorku Kenesh approved the bill, and on September 17, it was signed by the president.
Due to the renaming, government agencies and private organizations will have to replace official documents, seals, and signs.
At the same time, as stated by the director of the State Agency for Civil Service and Local Self-Government, Kudaibergen Bazarbayev, the city's residents will continue to be referred to as Jalal-Abad residents.
Jalal-Abad was founded in the late 19th century as a kishlak (village) in the Fergana Valley. The city's official founding is considered to be October 1877. Today, Jalal-Abad is the administrative center of the Jalal-Abad Region and the third-most populous city in Kyrgyzstan, behind only Bishkek and Osh. According to official data, the city has a population of over 184,000.
Manas is the central character of the epic poem of the same name, considered the most important monument of Kyrgyz oral folklore. The epic contains over half a million lines of poetry and is listed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
