ANKARA 

The Turkish parliament speaker on Thursday said Turkiye is following "closely and with sadness" the developments in Kazakhstan, where people are demonstrating over rising fuel prices.

"We believe that the state of Kazakhstan and the brotherly people of Kazakhstan will overcome these difficult days with common sense and will quickly attain peace and stability," Mustafa Sentop said on Twitter. "Turkey always stands by Kazakhstan."

Protests broke out on Jan. 2 in the Central Asian nation over an increase in prices for liquified petroleum gas, or LPG, in the oil town of Zhanaozen, western Mangystau region. The demonstrations spread to other areas, taking the shape of countrywide public demonstrations.

To ensure public safety, a state of emergency was declared in the commercial capital Almaty and the oil-rich Mangystau region. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev also approved the resignation of the government.

For help, he requested the Russian-led military alliance, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, and the CSTO agreed to send an unspecified number of peacekeepers.