Turkey To Help Bring Kyrgyz Nationals Home From Egypt

BISHKEK -- Turkey will provide Kyrgyzstan with a plane to bring Kyrgyz citizens home from Egypt, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

Deputy Interior Minister Nurlan Aitmurzaev made the announcement in Bishkek today.

He told journalists the Kyrgyz Embassy in Cairo is working on a list of Kyrgyz citizens willing to return home.

According to Aitmurzaev, 175 Kyrgyz nationals, including 37 children, have expressed an intention to return home from the Egyptian capital and the cities of Hurghada, Taba, and Alexandria,

In Cairo, a telephone hotline has been established for Kyrgyz nationals. The majority of the 254 Kyrgyz citizens officially registered in Egypt are students at Al-Azhar University in Cairo.

Many countries have evacuated their nationals since mass protests against President Hosni Mubarak began nearly two weeks ago. Many people have died in the unrest.

Read in Kyrgyz here