3 yıl önce

Erdogan voices solidarity with Kazakhstan, hopes tension will ease

Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he’s closely following the unfolding situation in the Central Asian nation rocked by protests.

AFP

Security forces in Kazakhstan have killed dozens of protesters trying to storm government buildings overnight, police told local media.

The Turkish president has expressed solidarity with Kazakhstan, where people have been protesting rising fuel prices.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Thursday that Turkiye is closely following the unfolding situation and stands in solidarity with the country, said a statement by Turkiye’s Communications Directorate.

“In a phone call to Tokayev, our president expressed his wish for a new government to be established in Kazakhstan as soon as possible to end the country's tension,” it added.

As the Organization of Turkic States’ term president, Erdogan has been calling the leaders of member states to discuss the developments in Kazakhstan.

Protests over hike in fuel prices

Protests in western Kazakhstan on Jan 2 over an increase in prices for liquified petroleum gas, or LPG, later spread to other areas of the Central Asian nation, going nationwide.

To ensure public safety, a state of emergency was declared in the commercial capital Almaty and the oil-rich Mangystau region.

Tokayev also approved the resignation of the government.

He requested help from the Russian-led military alliance, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which agreed to send an unspecified number of peacekeepers.