BISHKEK -- Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev has accepted the resignation of Interior Minister Melis Turganbaev in a government shake-up.
The Presidential Press Service said on May 30 that Atambaev had appointed Bishkek City Police Department Chief Kashkar Junushaliev as acting interior minister and urged the cabinet to approve him as the Central Asian nation's new interior minister.
No reason was given for Turganbaev's resignation.
The dismissal, however, follows the arrests of at least six politicians in the last three months who have been charged by authorities with plotting a coup.
The authorities cracked down on the opposition politicians as they were planning to hold antigovernment protests.
Turganbaev had led the Interior Ministry since 2014.
Before that, he served as deputy interior minister for four years.
