TASHKENT -- Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyaev has issued a decree calling for the memory of his predecessor Islam Karimov to be "immortalized."
The presidential decree signed on January 25 calls for streets, factories, airports, and universities to be renamed after Karimov, who died four months ago in Tashkent after suffering a stroke.
State-owned facilities to be named after Karimov include Tashkent State Technical University, Tashkent International Airport, and the Arts Palace in the eastern city of Ferghana.
A partially privatized automobile assembly plant in the eastern city of Asaka, operated by a joint-stock company that includes the U.S. auto giant General Motors, is also being renamed to honor Karimov.
Mirziyaev's order also calls for the construction of a memorial complex at Karimov's grave in his native city of Samarkand.
Monuments to Karimov will also be erected in Tashkent, Samarkand, and in the southern region of Qashqadaryo.
Karimov's birthday, September 30, has been declared a national day of commemoration.
September 2, the day when Karimov's death was officially announced, will be marked as the Day of the First President's Commemoration.
