Astana, September 15 (Interfax) - The Kazakh authorities do not plan to amend articles of the constitution regulating the country's language policy, Senate Speaker Kairat Mami told journalists in Astana on Thursday.
"Parliament has not proposed introducing appropriate amendments to the constitution either this year or next year. This option is ruled out," he said.
"The language issue is a question of society’s consolidation. I think that any artificial steps to trigger a debate on this topic negatively impact the state of stability in society," Mami said.
"The Kazakh language has always been the main language in our state. But we also need to remember that one of the central achievements of our independence is inter-ethnic accord, which is based on many Kazakh citizens’ possibility and right to speak Russian," he said.
In an open letter, Kazakh public and political figures, writers and people of culture asked the president and the speakers of parliament’s chambers to cancel a constitutional principle permitting the use of the Russian language on a par with the state Kazakh language.
The constitution defines the Kazakh language as Kazakhstan’s state language, but state controlled organizations and local administrations officially use the Russian language on a par with the Kazakh language.
