Turkey has offered — belatedly — to support Kazakhstan in helping to restore order to the central Asian nation that has been rocked by violent protests triggered by a hike in fuel prices and underpinned by a power struggle between rival ruling clans.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a meeting of his governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) over the weekend, “Turkey hopes that Kazakhstan will attain stability and peace as soon as possible. For this, Turkey and the Organization of Turkic States will lend all kinds of support.” Cavusoglu was referring to the Istanbul-based international group formed by Turkey and the former Soviet states of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan with which it shares ethnic and linguistic ties.

Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar echoed the offer, saying, “Kazakhstan is an important ally of Turkey, and we hope for the earliest possible stabilization of the situation and ensuring law and order in this country. If Kazakhstan makes any request to Ankara, we will be ready to provide it in full.”

Turkey’s deployment of troops to Libya to defend the internationally recognized government in Tripoli from attack by a Russian-backed eastern warlord and its intervention on the side of Azerbaijan against Armenia allowing the former to wrest back large chunks of occupied territory around the contested Nagorno-Karabakh enclave might prompt the uninitiated to ask whether it’s offering to do the same for Kazakhstan. Besides, what could be more natural than for Turkey’s authoritarian President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to extend a helping hand to a fellow despot seeking to quell nationwide protests against his rule?