Kyrgyz Lawmakers Approve In First Reading Bill Obliging State Entities, Businesses To Use Kyrgyz Only

Kyrgyz lawmakers have approved in the initial reading on January 19 a bill that would oblige all state entities, local self-governing bodies, enterprises, institutions, and organizations, regardless of the type of ownership, to use Kyrgyz only as their working language. The bill must go through two more readings and, if approved, will need President Sadyr Japarov to sign it into law. Russian, which dominates many spheres of everyday life, has the status of an official language while Kyrgyz is the state language in the Central Asian nation. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, click here.