President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan has passed away at the age of 78, according to an official televised announcement Friday by Turkey’s Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.
The announcement had not yet been confirmed by the Uzbek government, by noon Friday EDT, and it is not clear what the next steps will be in the Euro-Asian nation, in terms of how the population will determine who the next leader will be.
Karimov was rushed to the hospital a week ago after suffering a cerebral hemmorhage, but no further information was released. Military, police and security forces had surrounded the hospital in a circle that was several kilometers wide.
The president has led the nation since Uzbekistan declared its independence from the former Soviet Union 25 years ago. The country’s 25th anniversary of that event was celebrated Thursday, led for the first time by Uzbekistan’s prime minister rather than by Karimov, who was present each year at the celebrations.