BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan.6
Trend:
The airports of Almaty, Aktobe and Aktau aren’t operating because of the aggravated situation in Kazakhstan due to the protest actions, Khabar-24 TV channel said, Trend reports via TASS.
"The Almaty airport has temporarily suspended its activities, and the airports of Aktau and Aktobe are also temporarily closed," the channel noted.
The TV channel, referring to the SCAT air carrier, informed that flights to these cities scheduled for Jan. 6 have been canceled.
Kazakhstan's government announced late Jan. 4 that it was restoring some price caps on liquefied petroleum gas, after the rare protests reached Almaty following a sharp rise in the price of the fuel at the start of the year.
Many Kazakhs have converted their cars to run on LPG, which is far cheaper than gasoline as a vehicle fuel in Kazakhstan because of price caps. But the government argued that the low price was unsustainable and lifted the caps on Jan. 1.
After the price of the fuel spiked, big demonstrations erupted on Jan. 2 in certain parts of the country. Public protests are illegal in the country unless their organizers file a notice in advance. Following the development of the situation, the government declared a state of emergency all over the country.