ASTANA -- The Ukrainian Embassy in Kazakhstan has demanded an explanation from Kazakh authorities over new schoolbooks describing Ukraine's annexed Crimean Peninsula as part of Russia.
Embassy spokeswoman Iryna Blashchuk told RFE/RL that an official note to the Kazakh Foreign Ministry and Education Ministry, demanding "immediate withdrawal" of the textbooks in question from high schools, had been sent on September 25.
Kazakh Education Ministry spokesman Alibek Shoqparov told RFE/RL that his ministry had received the letter.
The note says that describing Crimea as part of Russia in a textbook issued by Kazakhstan's Mektep publishing house "contradicts the official position of the international community, including Kazakhstan -- the country that has repeatedly expressed its support for Ukraine's territorial integrity."
Russian annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 in a move that was condemned by more than 100 countries in a vote at the UN General Assembly.
