Merve Aydogan
06 January 2022•Update: 06 January 2022
ANKARA
As unrest continues in Kazakhstan, Turkiye's foreign minister discussed developments in the Central Asian country with his Russian and Azerbaijani counterparts on Thursday, sources said.
Besides the ongoing protests in Kazakhstan, which were triggered by a recent rise in fuel prices, Turkiye's Mevlut Cavusoglu and Russia' Sergey Lavrov had bilateral ties and an upcoming meeting of the NATO-Russia Council were on their agenda, according to diplomatic sources.
The two foreign ministers also addressed the recent developments in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Caucasus.
Separately, Cavusoglu also discussed developments in Kazakhstan with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov, diplomatic sources said.
Situation in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan's Interior Ministry announced on Wednesday that more than 200 people were detained for disrupting public order during demonstrations that erupted across the country Tuesday.
The ministry said 37 police vehicles had been damaged, 95 officers injured, and one car torched during the protests.
Police remain deployed on the streets of Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city, where massive rallies were held.
Holding the government responsible for the protests launched against a recent hike in LPG prices, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Wednesday approved the resignation of premier Askar Mamin and his ministers.
As protests spread across the country, Tokayev declared a state of emergency in the city of Almaty and the oil-rich Mangystau region in the west from Jan. 5-19 to maintain public security. He also imposed a curfew in Almaty, the country’s former capital, where thousands of people had taken to the streets.
While police used stun grenades and teargas to disperse the protesters, they responded with stones. Clashes were also reported between the police and demonstrators.
The government has also restricted access to social media applications, including Facebook and Telegram.
The protests broke out on Jan. 2 when drivers held demonstrations against an increase in LPG prices in the city of Zhanaozen in Mangystau, which later spread to Aktau city.
Supportive protests in the western cities of Atyrau, Aktobe, and Oral, where the country’s petroleum and natural gas reserves are located, spread to other areas of Kazakhstan to turn into countrywide public demonstrations.
