Georgian citizens in Kazakhstan ask for help

Four Georgian citizens who are now in Kazakhstan during massive anti-government protests, have asked for help as they were unable to leave the country and could not leave home to buy food and everyday items. 

Bachana Melashvili, one of the four Georgian citizens, has posted on Facebook that their flight to Georgia, which was scheduled on January 9, has been postponed. 

“We are actually stuck here and need help,” Melashvili wrote. 

The Georgian Foreign Ministry stated earlier today that the Georgian embassy in Kazakhstan is working in an ordinary manner and that flights from Georgia to Kazakhstan have not been canceled. 

However, passengers in Kutaisi airport are still waiting for their flight as a plane from Kazakhstan has not arrived so far. 

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has called for support from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) as anti-government protests are expanding in the country. 

Russian-led troops are now being deployed to help the government ‘stabilize’ the situation in the country. 

The demonstrations began after a cap on energy prices was removed, doubling the cost to Kazakhs of liquified petroleum gas, which many people use to power their cars, from 50 tenge (10p) a litre.

The government claimed that the change was made as the previous set price was unsustainable.