Turkish Airlines (THY), will evacuate 75 flight personnel from Kazakhstan's city of Almaty, the company announced on Friday, Trend reports.
The carrier said in a written statement that a special flight would bring the THY flight attendants and employees of other Turkish airline companies stuck in Almaty to Turkey's largest city Istanbul.
"A THY plane will take off Istanbul tonight after getting the necessary permissions" and is expected to arrive with the crews onboard on Saturday afternoon, it noted.
Meanwhile, THY has also been evaluating all the evacuation opportunities for the carrier's six flight attendants who have been currently in Kazakhstan's capital Nur-Sultan, according to the statement.
Following the adverse developments in Kazakhstan, Turkish Airlines canceled its flights to this country until Jan. 9.
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. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said the government initiated anti-terrorist operations to deal with the ongoing riots.
Also, the divisions of the united peacekeeping contingent of CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) arrived in Kazakhstan to assist in restoring order and help protect strategic objects of the country.