DUSHANBE, July 21, Asia-Plus — Shifting Tajik writing system to Arabic script will take a lot of time and this issue cannot be solved just by signing of any special document, the Culture Minister, Mirzoshorukh Asrori announced at a press conference in Dushanbe on July 21.
Even if we decide to make shift to Arabic script, we will have to work out a special program for making the Tajik people familiar with the Arabic script, the minister said, noting that it will take at least several years.
“I am sure that some 90-95 percent of Tajikistan’s population is not familiar with Arabic script and this factor should be taken into consideration,” Asrori said.
He added that shifting to Arabic script will be reflected in culture. According to him, if Tajikistan switches its alphabet from Cyrillic to Arabic script, the aspect of the country’s culture will change as well.
We will recall that Iranian website Press TV quoted Tajik Deputy Education Minister, Farhod Rahimov, as saying on My 2 that Tajikistan will switch its alphabet from Cyrillic to Persian, once the condition for the change is being met. According to Press TV, Farhod Rahimov said that 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 IRNA, according to Press TV.
