Kazakhstan closes entry to foreigners due to state of emergency

Kazakhstan has suspended the entry of foreign citizens into the country due to the state of emergency that followed mass unrest, Report informs, citing the country's embassy in Tashkent.

The protests in Kazakhstan, which kicked off on January 2 as a response to a surge in liquefied petroleum gas prices, snowballed into serious riots on the fourth day. The country’s largest city Almaty was the epicenter. Earlier, Tokayev dismissed the government. Amid the riots, he replaced the republic’s first president Nursultan Nazarbayev as the head of the Security Council and vowed tough actions.

A state of emergency has been introduced across the entire Kazakhstan, the Mir-24 TV channel reported on Wednesday. According to the Habar-24 TV channel, the state of emergency will remain in effect until January 19. Earlier, Tokayev imposed a two-week state of emergency in the Mangystau Region and in the Almaty Region, as well as the republic’s largest city of Almaty and the capital Nur-Sultan.