Nazarbaev To Meet Merkel In Berlin

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev is due to hold talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin today.

Nazarbaev is on a two-day trip to Germany, during which deals worth more than $2 billion are expected to be signed.

The Kazakh Foreign Ministry said agreements on raw materials, industry, and technology would be among the deals signed.

The trip is Nazarbaev's first visit to a Western country since clashes between security forces and oil workers in the western Kazakh town of Zhanaozen left at least 16 people dead in December.

Nazarbaev's government has come under criticism for the arrests of opposition activists in connection with the violence.

Some Kazakh activists have called for protests in Berlin to demand that the president stop what they describe as a "new wave of politically motivated arrests."