DUSHANBE, May 3, Asia-Plus – Tajikistan will switch its alphabet from Cyrillic to Persian, once the condition for the change is being met, a Tajik official says, Iranian website Press TV reported on May 2.
Tajikistan”s deputy culture minister, Farhad Rahimov, said his government will primarily give a go-ahead to the project through introducing books in Persian language to primary school students as a test.
“When we feel that the Tajik people became familiar with the Persian alphabet, we will study the issue,” Rahimov told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
Iran has previously distributed works of its eminent poets, such as Sa”adi, Mowlavi and Roudaki, which are much favored in Tajikistan to the ex-Soviet satellite state.
Iran and Tajikistan also plan to implement a cultural and educational accord clinched between the two Muslim states, which include the construction of Iran International School in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan.
Most of Tajikistan”s population belongs to the Tajik ethnic group and speak in Tajik language, which is a variant of Persian language spoken in Iran.
In Persian, Tajikistan means the “Land of the Tajiks”.
