Turkey to repatriate nationals from Kyrgyzstan

Turkey will send two planes to Kyrgyzstan Monday to retrieve nationals caught in the ethnic violence that has left more than 110 people dead, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.

"Kyrgyz officials have taken some measures for the safety of our citizens, but we will send two planes today for the safe evacuation of our nationals in Jalalabad and Osh" in southern Kyrgyzstan, Davutoglu told a press conference here.

The Turkish embassy in Bishkek will remain open, he added.

A delegation of diplomats as well as security and economic officials would also travel to the former Soviet republic on Monday or Tuesday for talks on what could be done for stability, Davutoglu said.

"We are determined to take some steps in light of the discussions the delegation will have in Kyrgyzstan," he added.

Turkey -- the president of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, an Asian security grouping -- was also working jointly with Kazakhstan, the current chair of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, to push the international community to up their contribution to Kyrgyzstan, he added.

Several days of clashes in Osh have left at least 117 people dead and more than 1,000 wounded, according to an official toll. Tens of thousands of people, which some estimates put at 100,000, have fled the fighting and crossed the border into Uzbekistan.