ANKARA:  In a phone call with his Kazakh counterpart on Thursday, the Turkish president expressed solidarity with Kazakhstan, where people have been protesting rising fuel prices.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev 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 about developments in Kazakhstan.

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.