Islam Karimov, the president of Uzbekistan, has died, according to the Turkish government.

BBC reports that Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announced Friday that Karimov had died.

“Uzbek President Islam Karimov has passed away. May God’s mercy be upon him, as the Turkish Republic we are sharing the pain and sorrow of Uzbek people,” the Turkish Prime Minister said in a cabinet meeting broadcast live on Friday.

Three diplomatic sources also confirmed Karimov’s death to Reuters, although the Uzbek government has not confirmed the reports.

Karimov, 78, has not appeared in public since August 17. He has been in the hospital since last Saturday after suffering a stroke, Reuters reports, and the Uzbek government did confirm that he was critically ill.

Karimov has not designated a successor. He has held tight authoritarian rule over the nation, which borders Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, since 1989.

Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. Please enter a valid email address. Sign Up Now Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thank you! For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.

Write to Tessa Berenson at tessa.berenson@time.com.