Amid unrest over fuel prices, Kazakhstan government resigns

Protesters in Almaty.
(Image credit: Abduaziz Madyarov/AFP via Getty Images)

With protesters in the streets demonstrating against high fuel prices, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Tuesday declared a two-week state of emergency in the country's Almaty and Mangystau regions.

He also accepted the resignation of the government, appointing Alikhan Smailov as interim prime minister and Murat Nurtileu as first deputy chairman of the National Security Committee until a new government is formed, Radio Free Europe reports. Earlier Tuesday, Tokayev said during a video address that "calls to attack government and military offices are absolutely illegal. The government will not fall, but we want mutual trust and dialogue rather than conflict."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.