Turkish, Russian top diplomats discuss Kazakhstan, Ukraine
ANKARA
The foreign ministers of Turkey and Russia, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Sergey Lavrov, have discussed on the phone recent developments in Kazakhstan and the ongoing standoff between the latter and Ukraine just a day before NATO countries hold an extraordinary meeting.
Çavuşoğlu and Lavrov spoke on the phone early Jan. 6, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said, informing that the two ministers have discussed the bilateral relations, NATO-Russia Council meeting, and the developments in Kazakhstan, Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Caucasus.
Earlier in the day, Çavuşoğlu exchanged views on the worrying developments in the Central Asian country with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ceyhun Bayramov. There was no further information about the content of Çavuşoğlu’s conversations with Lavrov and Bayramov.
Turkey, in a written statement through the Foreign Ministry on late Jan. 4, said it was closely following the protests in Kazakhstan that led to the resignation of the government.
“We attach importance to the stability of friendly Kazakhstan. We wish peace and tranquility for the brotherly people of Kazakhstan. We firmly believe that Kazakhstan Administration will overcome this crisis. We trust the common sense of the people of Kazakhstan and wish that these events would calm down very soon,” it said.
“We wish a speedy recovery to our Kazakh brothers and sisters, including members of the security forces, who were injured during these events,” the ministry added.
In the meantime, Turkey’s Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop stressed that Turkey always stands with Kazakhstan and expressed his faith that the country will soon overcome this turbulence.
Both Turkey and Kazakhstan are part of the Organization of the Turkic States which issued a written statement on Jan. 6 that emphasized “the importance they attach to peace and stability in Kazakhstan and express their strong solidarity with the member state Kazakhstan.”
Voicing the member countries’ trust in the wisdom and desire of the brotherly Kazakh people to return to normalcy, the organization stated, their “confidence in the capacity of the Kazakh authorities to peacefully defuse tensions and reestablish calm and order,” and expressed their readiness to support the people and government of Kazakhstan as needed.
NATO ministers meet on Friday
Another major issue the Turkish and Russian foreign ministers discussed was the ongoing escalation between Russia and Ukraine which will be reviewed by the NATO foreign ministers on Friday. The virtual meeting will gather the foreign ministers in a virtual environment. Following the meeting, NATO-Russia Council is expected to come together next week.
Turkey urges both Russia and Ukraine to resolve the problem through peaceful means and offers its mediation.
